The defending national champion and top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will begin their season on Saturday as they face the 14th-ranked Miami Hurricanes. The Tide will have a new quarterback, as Bryce Young takes over for the departed Mac Jones, while the Hurricanes feature D’Eriq King. The Crimson Tide almost always get a lot of respect from the oddsmakers and a lot of action from bettors and that is the case again for this opener, as the Crimson Tide are listed as an 18.5-point favorite. Let’s look at the contest and college football picks.
Week One college football action features a matchup of Top 15 teams, as the No. ranked Alabama Crimson Tide take on the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes. This game takes place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, September 4, 2021. This game will be broadcast live on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET. We’ll have college football odds available at Bookmaker.eu for this and every game going on for Saturday’s NCAA Football slate.
College Football Betting at BookMaker.eu
Alabama Crimson Tide -18.5
Miami Hurricanes +18.5
Total 60.5
Odds Analysis
The Crimson Tide opened as a 17.5-point favorite and bettors are betting Alabama, as they are now an 18.5-point favorite. There has been some decent action on the total, as it opened at 62.5 and has been bet down to 60.5
Alabama Crimson Tide
There are a lot of questions about the Crimson Tide heading into 2021, but head coach Nick Saban simply reloads with new talent. Bryce Young takes over at quarterback and he will be throwing to new receivers, a new tight end and he will have a new running back behind him. The offensive line also has some question marks heading into the season.
The Crimson Tide have a good defense led by the best linebackers in college football. The question is whether or not the secondary will be good enough to handle potent passing attacks.
Miami Hurricanes
The Hurricanes feature a quarterback in D’Eriq King who is a dual-threat. He is capable of making big plays and keeping Miami in this game. "He’s a very good player,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said to the media, "He’s a very athletic guy, a very good runner. He can extend plays. He is a good passer. They go fast. He does a really good job of operating their up-tempo type offense. It’s going to be very challenging for us, not only because he’s a really good quarterback but he’s a great athlete playing the position."
The concern for Miami is a defense that gave up 99 points in their last two games a year ago. Head coach Manny Diaz brought in three new defensive assistants and he decided that he would be the new defensive coordinator.
Alabama vs. Miami Prediction
Did you know that Alabama is 14-0 SU and 12-2 against the spread in season openers under Nick Saban? The Crimson Tide failed to cover in 2014 against West Virginia and last year against Missouri. If you throw out last season’s result because of the lack of prep time due to COVID, Saban’s teams are 12-2 ATS in season openers.
I am not going against Alabama, but I don’t like laying big points against a team that has a quarterback who can make plays. I think the better play is the total. I am really surprised the early money has come in on the under because I don’t know that either of these defenses is anything special. I know that Alabama has great linebackers, but I think opposing teams will be able to throw against them. We know that Alabama is going to score a lot of points so if King can make some plays for Miami, then this should be a shootout. I will go over the total on Saturday.
Bookmaker Pick: Over 60.5
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