The start of the 2021 college football season is a little over a month away, and with the recent announcement by the SEC that no conference games will be rescheduled as a result of COVID-19 spread and subsequent cancellations, each win is even more important for the member teams. Alabama saw its odds to repeat start at +300, making them the favorite, slightly ahead of Clemson (+400), and those sports betting odds have dipped to +267 as the action has poured in on their side.
Let’s take a look at the Crimson Tide and consider if the college football odds is worth the comparative lack of value.
NCAA News: Can Alabama Repeat as National Champions?
Even during a season marred by the confusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alabama put together a transcendent season in 2020. They ran the table for a 10-0 regular season record, routed Florida in the SEC Championship and then took Notre Dame and Ohio State to the woodshed in the College Football Playoff. It is true that the 2021 NFL draft took a toll on the Tide, but their recruiting is so rock-solid that they had blue-chip starters waiting in the wings at every position, including quarterback, where Bryce Young already has $1 million in endorsement deals before even having started a game.
One reason why you can expect the Tide to repeat is that he knows how to outcoach those who have worked for him — and he will likely see three of his former assistants this year. Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M) and Kirby Smart (Georgia) could all take on Nick Saban this year, the first two in SEC West play and the third in a potential SEC Championship matchup. If Alabama can win the SEC, even if one of those other two schools makes the College Football Playoff, Alabama would gain the higher seed and have an easier matchup in the national semifinal.
It also helps Alabama that there is so much uncertainty among the other national championship contenders at quarterback. Young was a five-star recruit when Saban signed him out of high school. He sat on the bench behind Mac Jones, who won the Davey O’Brien Award last year as college football’s top signal-caller, when he would have started as a true freshman at just about any other school, including Power Five programs.
Who do the top contenders have at quarterback this year? Oklahoma has Spencer Rattler. Georgia has J.T. Daniels. Iowa State has Brock Purdy. Ohio State has C.J. Stroud. Clemson has D.J. Uiagalelei. All of those quarterbacks show a lot of promise, but it’s not like Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence is waiting out there for the Tide in a potential playoff matchup. If Young can play at or near the level that Mac Jones demonstrated a year ago at Alabama, then the Tide should not have any problems outscoring the opposition. We already know that Saban can design a scheme that can beat the other top SEC contenders and has also beaten the likes of Dabo Swinney on the game’s biggest stage.
So even with a relative lack of value, this is a smart pick right now — before the odds contract even further. It’s true that Young could go down to injury, like Tua Tagovailoa did a couple years ago, and make it easier for an upgraded LSU team or Texas A&M to get by the Tide and win the division. However, that is always a risk — and with a full off-season this time around, there should be fewer injuries that come as a result of wear and tear, or overuse. With a full strength training season under their belts, flexibility and stamina should not play as much of a role in putting players on the sideline, which gives Alabama another edge.
College Football Betting Odds
Love betting NCAA football games? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date college football lines
