SEC Games of the Year — Bama -10 vs. LSU (for now)
Published on Monday, 9/16/13, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
Sportsbook.ag updates its lines for Games of the Year every Monday. One change I noticed today was Alabama reduced to a 10-point favorite vs. LSU. The Crimson Tide was favored by 11 last week and the number was 12.5 a few weeks ago.
I’ve been saying for months that the demise of LSU was greatly exaggerated this past off-season. This seems to be accurate through three games, especially with Zach Mettenberger playing extremely well. He has nine touchdown passes without throwing an interception.
But I think the main reason oddsmakers adjusted this line again is due to what we saw from Alabama in College Station.
Look, I know it’s early. We’ve only seen ‘Bama play for eight quarters. The Tide undoubtedly deserves to be No. 1.
But one thing looks clear: Alabama can be had.
And another thing is a given: ‘Bama isn’t what it was in 2012.
After demolishing Michigan and handing Arkansas a cream-cheese bagel in a 52-0 shellacking in September of last season, Nick Saban’s team didn’t appear to have any flaws. My thinking at that time was, “Who the hell thinks they can beat that team?”
But that team had one of the best offensive lines in the history of ‘Bama’s storied program. This bunch on the o-line dominated Texas A&M’s d-line, but it had all sorts of problems against Va. Tech.
As for the defense, Alabama gave up 42 points to the Aggies and they could’ve had more if not for an interception in the end zone. Nobody scored more than 29 points on the Tide’s 2012 ‘D.’
When ‘Bama held Va. Tech to 10 points, that was impressive. Then again, the Hokies had to score a late TD to score 15 against East Carolina.
I’m not trying to bury Alabama by any means, not after winning at Kyle Field in front of a raucous crowd. It doesn’t have to play the top three teams out of the SEC East (Georgia, Florida and South Carolina) and it has already cleared its toughest road hurdle. There’s still a high likelihood the Tide will get back to Atlanta and could end up in Pasadena in another BCS Championship Game.
But those chances aren’t as strong as they were last year. I think the line for the LSU game is in double figures for the final time this week, and it could be down to seven by late October.
Below is a list of SEC Games of the Year available at Sportsbook as of late Monday night.
Georgia -3 vs. LSU
Texas A&M -13 at Arkansas
LSU -7 vs. Florida
Ole Miss -1 vs. Texas A&M
Florida -5 at Missouri
LSU -4 vs. Ole Miss
Mississippi St. -11 vs. Kentucky
Alabama -28 vs. Tennessee
Georgia -4.5 vs. Florida (in Jacksonville)
Alabama -10 vs. LSU
Tennessee -2.5 vs. Vanderbilt
Ole Miss -7 at Mississippi St.
FSU -2 at Florida
South Carolina -3 vs. Clemson
Alabama -21 at Auburn
