In a wild first week of college football, one thing remained constant. The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide were one of the few top-ranked teams that lived up to expectations and then some. Alabama showed once again why it is the hardest team in the country to beat and should be a unanimous No. 1 in the polls after its performance. For College Football Week 2, Alabama will face a different test in the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 2 game is set for Saturday, September 10, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Bryant-Denny Stadium on ESPN2.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Alabama -28.5
Western Kentucky +28.5
Odds Analysis
All the early money has been on the Crimson Tide in this one. Alabama opened as a 24-point favorite and the line has gone up, up, up and currently sits at 28.5. With the Crimson Tide’s suffocating defense, the total should be in the high 40s or low 50s.
Matchup to Watch
The big question for the Crimson Tide coming into this season was who would be the starting quarterback. That question remains to be answered as Alabama gave Jalen Hurts, Blake Barnett, and Cooper Bateman snaps against USC. Bateman only saw a little action, but Hurts and Barnett split series throughout the game.
Lane Kiffin can use Hurts and Barnett in different ways and he may not just settle on one this season. Barnett got the start against USC, but the offense was largely ineffective with him under center. It was a different story with Hurts at the helm. Despite a fumble on his first play, he eventually started to lead the rout of the Trojans in the second quarter and was able to both run and pass at will. How Kiffin deploys Hurts and Barnett in this one will be interesting to watch.
Look Ahead Situation
This is a pretty big sandwich game for Alabama. Although there isn’t a better coach in college football than Nick Saban, he will find it difficult to have his team motivated here. The Crimson Tide just finished securing a big win against the Trojans and the week after this game will travel to Oxford to take on Ole Miss.
Saban is undoubtedly already preparing for Chad Kelly and the Rebels already and Western Kentucky is going to be good practice the game before. The Hilltoppers run a wide-open pass first offense and that will help the Crimson Tide prepare for Ole Miss the week after even if their heads aren’t fully in this one.
Free ATS Pick
Alabama put an exclamation on its No. 1 ranking against USC and showed no signs of letting up from the team that was a steamroller last season. The Crimson Tide replace tons of talent year after year, but recruit better than anyone in the country and with a talent developer like Nick Saban this team is ready to compete once again.
The Hilltoppers have been one of the most fun mid-major teams to watch over the past few seasons, but despite the hype they just haven’t been able to do well against power conference opponents. Under Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky has played four power conference schools and has failed to cover in all four of those games. The Hilltoppers do have a win, knocking off Vandy as a 2.5-point favorite last season, but failed to cover and only managed 14 points.
Alabama can cover this spread if it wants to, but motivation will be the biggest deciding factor. The Crimson Tide can score at will against a Western Kentucky defense that only returns four starters from 2015, but are likely to hold a lot back and save their best efforts for Ole Miss. Alabama will run a very vanilla scheme and get an easy win against Western Kentucky, but will fall short of covering.
College Football Odds: Crimson Tide 31, Hilltoppers 10
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