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Southern Mississippi at No. 1 Alabama: Betting Guide

The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles of Conference USA will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, who have gotten off to just as dominant of a start as they have in recent years. This will be Southern Mississippi’s first meeting with a ranked opponent since 2019, when they lost to Alabama, 49-7.

The game is set to kick off  Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Southern Mississippi Alabama
Joe Robbins/Getty Images/AFP
Game: Southern Mississippi (1-2) at #1 Alabama (3-0)
Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Television: SECN

Betting Lines

Team Point Spread Moneyline Over/Under Team Total
Southern Miss. +45 (-110) o58 (-110)
#1 Alabama -45 (-110) u58 (-110)

Head-to-Head

Alabama leads the all-time series matchup 37-5-2 and has won every meeting in the 21st century. Alabama is said not to rebuild during the offseason, when it loses a boatload of players to the NFL draft, but to “reload” with new talent; that is what the Golden Eagles will be up against this weekend.

If the visitors were to pull off the upset, it would be one of the greatest underdog stories in decades— the Crimson Tide looks like a well-oiled machine and is expected to win the national championships every year that they field a roster.

Southern Mississippi

Next game: at Rice

Last Game

Southern Mississippi failed to follow up a Week 2 win with a similar result, dropping to Troy last week, 21-9. The Golden Eagles finished with 157 yards passing and an astonishing -1 yards rushing in the game, mostly due to an absurd -45 yards on 19 carries from quarterback Ty Keyes. Frank Gore Jr. is the running back for Southern Mississippi and went for 31 yards on 15 carries last week.

If there was a positive takeaway from last week’s loss, it was the defense; they totaled four sacks on Troy’s quarterback and registered nine tackles for loss in the process. This type of intensity will be needed in excess against the top-ranked team in America this weekend.

Injury Report

Starting quarterback, Trey Lowe, will miss the game against Alabama, still dealing with the effects of a foot injury suffered two weeks ago. The rest of the team’s impact players will be available for action, barring any setbacks closer to kickoff.

No. 1 Alabama

Next game: vs No. 13 Ole Miss

Last Game

The Crimson Tide escaped with a 31-29 victory over the Florida Gators last week as they failed to cover the spread but managed to maintain their undefeated start. Sophomore Bryce Young continued his charge to the Heisman, going for 240 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while Brian Robinson Jr.’s 78 yards and one touchdown pace the ground game.

Notably, the highly touted defense only managed one sack, although they did get seven tackles for loss against a Florida team that ran the ball 43 times. With an easier matchup in the immediate future, the Crimson Tide’s star defenders will be looking to tee-off and boost their draft stock in a game that will allow them to showcase their talent.

Injury Report

There were two main injury concerns ahead of Alabama’s game last week: Camar Wheaton and Will Anderson Jr. Although the latter managed to suit up, the former is still dealing with lingering issues and is questionable. Senior linebacker Christopher Allen still appears to be out for the season after he was injured near the start of September.

Betting on the Game

Point Spread

The point spread on this game has been set at a whopping 45 points in favor of the home team, the top-ranked team in the nation, Alabama. Although it may not seem like a lot to cover a 45-point spread, in theory, it could be quite the ask for a Southern Mississippi team that was outscored by 36 points by Troy and South Alabama.

Consider the fact that the Golden Eagles are also starting their backup QB, despite neither him nor the starter throwing the ball particularly well, and it is tough to see how they will fare with a team that has the best talent in college football.

If there is an encouraging sign for the visitors, though, it is that Alabama is only 1-2 against the spread this season; their lone cover fell in a week-one defeat of the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes, 44-13. Alabama has built a reputation on blowing out most teams they face, including the Ohio State Buckeyes in last year’s national championship game.

If the game gets out of hand early, as expected, there is a strong chance that the Crimson Tide will send in their backups to get some reps and spell the starters to lessen their chances of getting injured.

While this could behoove the Golden Eagles’ chances of covering, especially if a new quarterback takes over for Young, it is not like the backups are scrubs; the second and third-stringers are almost unanimously top recruits and will still be capable of covering the spread if they are on their game.

Over/Under

The points total will probably depend largely on the output of Alabama, although if there is one team capable of single-handedly managing this burden, they are the team.

Southern Mississippi will have a decent day in the office if they can score two touchdowns, so that leaves roughly 40-something points for Bama to cover; this total should be relatively pedestrian for them, and even if the Golden Eagles miss their 14-point target, the Crimson Tide should be able to do enough to see this game through the over.

Expect Alabama to score over 50 points on the way to a monstrous victory over the visitors, who are simply outmatched in every way.

Final Score: #1 Alabama 53, Southern Mississippi 13

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