This Alabama-Tennessee matchup is a real head-scratcher. Just two weeks ago, both teams entered their games as top-5 teams and heavy favorites, only to lose. Then, a week later, they nearly let home victories slip away as double-digit favorites. Now, as they renew this long-standing rivalry, one team will break the pattern and potentially disrupt their opponent’s playoff aspirations.
Alabama (5-1, 2-1 SEC) opened as a 2-point favorite, with the spread increasing to 3 points as the week progressed. This is especially interesting since Tennessee, the home team, upset the Crimson Tide in their last meeting at Neyland Stadium.
It’s a clash between a struggling Tennessee offense and a shaky Alabama defense—and vice versa, with a solid Tide offense facing a stout Vol defense.
The key question is: which team will crack first?
For Alabama, the ideal outcome would be to strike early and control the tempo. College football is changing fast, and long, possession-heavy games are a thing of the past. Alabama has had only 10 possessions in its last two games, and when they lost to Vanderbilt two weeks ago, they only had the ball nine times. Each possession counts—Alabama gave up two possessions in Nashville and lost by five. Last week, they capitalized on four takeaways against South Carolina, winning by two, and did the same against Georgia, winning by seven.
