Alabama Crimson Tide slides in college football betting odds

As Fall Camp begins for the Alabama Crimson Tide, oddsmakers have downgraded Alabama's chances of achieving its every season goal of a National Championship. In January, before Nick Saban's retirement, the Crimson Tide's odds of winning the 2024 title were +500. After Saban's announcement, the odds dropped to +1400. In the spring the Tide's title odds brightened a bit to +1300. The current FanDuel odds, published by 247Sports have the Crimson Tide at +1500.

For those unfamiliar with how betting odds work, Athlon Sports provides a good explanation, "Odds expressed in terms of money, with $100 being the standard. If the odds are minus (–), then that amount of money must be wagered to win $100. (e.g. –150 means you must bet $150 to win $100.) If the odds are plus (+), that amount of money would be earned on a successful $100 wager. (e.g. +150 means you make $150 on a $100 wager.)"

Even for non-bettors, published odds provide another interesting calculation of competitive strengths and weaknesses of teams. Opinions vary on whether odds from betting sites are more accurate than non-betting algorithms.

Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Odds

• Per FanDuel, Alabama has the seventh-best odds of making the CFB Playoffs. Alabama is at +100. Other teams in the top 10 are Ohio State (-650); Georgia (-600); Oregon (-290); Texas (-230); Notre Dame (-170); Penn State (-145); Ole Miss (-125); LSU (+125); Michigan (+130); FSU (+160) and Missouri (+180). It is interesting ESPN's FPI also has the Crimson Tide with the seventh-highest probability of making the Playoff.

• Per FanDuel, Playoff odds for other SEC teams are: Tennessee (+195); Texas A&M (+240); Oklahoma (+490); Auburn (+650); Kentucky (+1100); South Carolina and Florida (+2000); Arkansas (+2800); Mississippi State (+5000) and Vanderbilt (+15000).

• Alabama has the third-best odds to win the SEC Championship at +700. Georgia is the favorite at +185. Texas is next at +350. The Alabama Crimson Tide is followed by Ole Miss at +750; LSU at +1000; Texas A&M at +1200; Tennessee at +1800; Missouri at +2300; Oklahoma at +2700; Auburn at +7500; Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina at +10000; Arkansas at +25000; Mississippi State at +35000 and Vanderbilt at +50000.

• Considering the difficulty of Alabama's schedule, the Crimson Tide fares well in FanDuel odds to win 10+ regular season games. The top 10 SEC teams are: Georgia (-330); Texas (-186); Ole Miss (-108); Alabama (+116); LSU (+144); Missouri and Tennessee (+152); Texas A&M (+176); Oklahoma (+390) and Auburn (+680).