NCAA Football Odds: Bet on Alabama to Exceed 9½ Wins
- Alabama prepares for Year 1 following the retirement of legendary coach Nick Saban.
- There are some challenging road games in SEC play for Alabama.
- Check out reasons why Alabama could go either over or under 9½ wins during the regular season.
It is hard to know what feels more surreal – the fact that Nick Saban is no longer the coach at Alabama or that three teams have shorter odds of winning the SEC than the Crimson Tide in 2024 according to the college football betting lines.
The retirement of Saban wasn’t the only thing making college football news in Tuscaloosa with four of the top six transfers on the 247sports.com database either transferring in or out of Alabama.
One player who did stay was quarterback Jalen Milroe, fifth at +1400 in the odds of winning the Heisman Trophy.
A quick peek at the college football futures odds shows that Alabama is priced at -115 to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field and +1200 to win the national title.
Alabama has +110 odds to go over 9½ wins during the regular season.
Alabama Regular Season Wins Odds and Best Bets
Why to Bet Alabama To Go Over 9½ Wins
The non-conference schedule looks pretty manageable as the BetUS Sportsbook odds list Alabama as a 31-point favorite against Western Kentucky in the season opener on Aug. 31 with Alabama also favored versus South Florida and Wisconsin before heading into SEC play. There is also a late-season matchup with Mercer that could be one of those “name your score” type of games.
The South Florida game on Sept. 7 will include the dedication of Nick Saban Field.
Join us as we honor legendary head coach Nick Saban with the dedication of Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 7!#RollTidepic.twitter.com/tSyfy5II0P
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) July 19, 2024
If Alabama wins all four of those games, the Crimson Tide would need to go 6-2 in SEC play to reach 10 wins in the regular season.
It won’t be easy with games against Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and of course the regular-season finale against Auburn. The good news is that the Auburn game is at home and the Crimson Tide haven’t lost to Auburn in Tuscaloosa since 2010.
Oklahoma is 3-9 in its last 12 games against ranked opponents.
The Crimson Tide have won 16 of the last 17 games against Tennessee, have won 10 of the last 12 versus LSU, and are 7-2 against Auburn in the last nine meetings.
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Why to Bet Alabama to Go Under 9½ Wins
This will be Luke Fickell’s second full season at the helm of the Wisconsin program so the transition from a power running offense to utilizing more of a diverse system should be miles ahead of where it was a season ago.
A loss to Wisconsin would put Alabama in the precarious situation of heading into a showdown with SEC favorite Georgia coming off a loss.
The aura of invincibility at Alabama could be a thing of the past. Texas went into Tuscaloosa and came away with a 10-point win in 2023. Nobody will confuse the 2024 Wisconsin team with last year’s Texas squad, but getting to 10 wins in the regular season with a loss to Wisconsin seems a bit unlikely.
The Tennessee game is on the road as is the matchup with LSU so those are pretty scary matchups for the Alabama fans and it will be worth watching the college football betting trends heading into those matchups.
The last time Alabama played at Oklahoma was in 2002 and the result was a 10-point loss. The Sooners were double-digit favorites in that game and that will certainly not be the case this time around.
Bet Alabama to Go Under 9½ Wins
And the Winner Is …?
Yes, Alabama lost a bunch of talent in the transfer portal including safety Caleb Downs, receiver Isaiah Bond, cornerback Dezz Ricks and tight end Amari Niblack, but Alabama is still Alabama. Having elite offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor transfer in from Iowa is just one of the reasons why Alabama’s class of incoming transfers was rated third nationally according to the 247sports.com database.
From Ryan Williams to Amari Jefferson to the impact of Kadyn Proctor’s return on the offensive line…@ByScarborough has a complete rundown of the football news to come out of #Alabama‘s turn at #SECMD24! https://t.co/ANtUQ40ydL
— Bama247 (@Bama_247) July 19, 2024
Kalen DeBoer is a well-respected coach who just got Washington into the national title game so he should be able to work wonders with a roster bolstered by yet another top-three recruiting class.
Perhaps LSU, Tennessee and Oklahoma can use the home-field advantage to beat the Crimson Tide but we’ll believe it when we see it.
Even if Alabama loses to Georgia, the Crimson Tide can lose another game and still go over 9½ wins during the regular season.
Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets.
Questions of the Day
How Did Alabama perform against the spread in 2023?
Alabama was 9-5 against the spread a season ago and 8-4 as the favorite.
Who does Alabama play in its first home game during the 2024 season?
Alabama welcomes Western Kentucky to town on Aug. 31 in the 2024 season opener with the Crimson Tide favored by 31 points.
