Alabama at Auburn Line

Written by Steve Janus

The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide will look to keep their National Championship hopes alive when they go on the road to face the Auburn Tigers on Saturday. This in state rival between these SEC West teams is one of the most anticipated games of these season for these two schools. Auburn won 28-27 at Alabama last year, but the Crimson Tide had won the previous two games before that, including a 26-21 win at Auburn back in 2009.

Taking a look at the week 13 college football spreads, oddsmakers currently have Alabama favored by 21-points over Auburn with the total set at 47 points.

Alabama:

As of right now the Crimson Tide are considered the top one-loss team in the country, which would have them playing LSU for the National Championship if the season were to end today. They will have a much better idea of where they stand by the time this game kicks off, as No. 1 LSU hosts No. 3 Arkansas on Friday. Either way you can expect the Crimson Tide to put forth their best effort against Auburn.

Alabama comes in of a 45-21 win over Georgia Southern, and you can bet this team will benefit from having a week off from SEC play. The Crimson Tide did as they pleased offensively in the easy non-conference matchup. A.J. McCarron went 14 of 19 for 190 yards and three touchdowns, and Trent Richardson carried it 32 times for 175 yards and two scores.

The Crimson Tide will likely look to Richardson and the ground game to lead them past the Tigers this Saturday. Auburn allowed Georgia to rush for 304 yards in their last SEC game. and are giving up and average of 193 yards a game on the ground.

Auburn:

The Tigers come in at 7-4 overall and 4-3 inside the conference. While it hasn’t turned out to be the season many fans were hoping for, it will feel like they won another National Championship if they can ruin Alabama’s season on their home field. i expect Auburn to play with a ton of energy, but it’s going to come down to whether or not their defense can step up to the challenge.

Offensively the Tigers are going to have their hands full against an Alabama defense that leads the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 8.4 points per game. I don’t care that Georgia Southern put up 21 points last week, because the Crimson Tide didn’t care if they scored 21 points. All they wanted to do was make sure they were 100% coming into this week’s game.

Auburn’s offense has really struggled against the top teams. In their four games against South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU, and Georgia they averaged a whopping 11 points, failing to score more than a single touchdown in three of the four games.

The Tigers strength is running the football, as they average 183.5 ypg on the ground, but that plays right into the hands of Alabama’s defense, who lead the nation allowing just 74.6 rushing yards a game. Auburn might get a big pay, but to think they are going to reach 20 points is a huge stretch.

As much as Auburn wants to win this game, they are going to need to play the best game of the season and have Alabama play one of their worst.

Betting Trends:

Alabama is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as a road favorite of 10.5 or greater.

Auburn is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as a home underdog.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

Comments

Got something to say?