Tomorrow night at 7:00 PM on ESPN, the key college football matchup of the weekend begins in Tuscaloosa when the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and 11th-ranked Texas Longhorns kickoff.
Legal college football betting sites are favoring the Crimson Tide by a touchdown. Combining the spread and the over/under total projects a final score of Alabama 30, Texas 23.
Texas Longhorns (#11) @ Alabama Crimson Tide (#3)
- Texas Point Spread: +7.0
- Texas Moneyline Odds To Win: +230
- Alabama Point Spread: -7.0
- Alabama Moneyline Odds To Win: -280
- Over/Under: 53.5
Last weekend, Texas beat the Rice Owls 37-11. However, the point spread was set at 37.5, so the Longhorns did not cover. Alabama was able to cruise past Middle Tennessee by a final score of 56-7, easily covering the 39.5-point spread.
This is the last time these two programs will meet on the gridiron as members of different conferences, as Texas is set to join the SEC next season.
The Longhorns don’t technically need the win to make the College Football Playoffs, but with no other significant out-of-conference games on their schedule, a Big 12 championship may not be enough.
The Crimson Tide can afford the loss, as the strength of their remaining SEC schedule and a potential championship game would be more than enough to propel them to the CFP.
Futures for betting on the 2023-24 CFP Champions place Alabama as the second overall program. Despite this high projection, a wager of $1 on their +550 moneyline will garner betting wins of $6.50 if they go all the way this year.
Alternatively, Texas is rated as the seventh overall team in current NCAAF futures with +2200 odds that will payout at 22-to-1 ratios.
The only other close betting matchup featured in the current top ten rankings is Notre Dame vs. NC State, where the number ten Fighting Irish are favored by 7.5 on the road.
AP Top 10 College Football Point Spreads
- Georgia Bulldogs vs. Ball State Cardinals (+42.0)
- Michigan Wolverines vs. UNLV Running Rebels (+37.5)
- Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Texas Longhorns (+7.0)
- Florida State Seminoles vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (30.5)
- Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Youngstown State Penguins (+41.5)
- USC Trojans vs. Stanford Cardinal (+29.0)
- Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (+13.0)
- Washington Huskies vs. Tulsa Hurricane (+34.0)
- Tennessee Volunteers vs. Austin Peay Governors (+36.5)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack (+7.5)
If the Irish can win, that will set up an epic clash against the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 23rd on Notre Dame’s home turf.
The spreads for all other games involving top ten teams feature double-digit point spreads, with most of them in excess of 30.
Sources
- AP Top 25 College Football Rankings
- Bovada Sportsbook (Bovada.lv Review)
