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The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders take on the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 1 of the college football season on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Middle Tennessee vs. Alabama odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
Middle Tennessee is a massive underdog in this game with good reason but it is coming off of an 8-5 season in Conference USA and a win in the Hawaii Bowl over San Diego State.
The Blue Raiders do return a passing attack that ranked 14th in the country in pass attempts per game (39.4). They also return DT Marley Cook and DE Zaylin Wood who combined for 13 sacks in 2022.
Expectations are always high for the Crimson Tide but this season they debut a brand new offense under new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. He comes over from Notre Dame after leading the Fighting Irish’s offense for the past 3 seasons. Alabama also has a new trigger man in QB Jalen Milroe following QB Bryce Young‘s departure as the 1st overall pick in April’s NFL Draft.
The 2022 season was a disappointment in the eyes of Alabama fans as it went 11-2 and failed to make the SEC Championship game. The Tide’s road should be easier this year as they host Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, and Arkansas. Alabama is the No. 3 ranked team in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
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Middle Tennessee at Alabama odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 9:15 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Middle Tennessee +2000 (bet $100 to win $2,000) | Alabama -10000 (bet $10,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Middle Tennessee +39.5 (-110) | Alabama -39.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 51.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Middle Tennessee at Alabama picks and predictions
Prediction
Alabama 45, Middle Tennessee 13
Moneyline
Even though Alabama should win this game easily on Saturday night, just AVOID wagering on the moneyline. Betting on a team at -10000 is just isn’t smart.
Against the spread
BET MIDDLE TENNESSEE +39.5 (-110)
I’m going to take the Blue Raiders getting that massive number on the road against the Crimson Tide. I said it earlier, Alabama is working out a completely new offense with a brand new signal caller and it is going to take a minute for them to gel. The Crimson Tide were only 6-6-1 ATS season.
Remember that Middle Tennessee brings back the bulk of their high-flying offense and should score enough in this game to keep it within margin.
Over/Under
BET OVER 51.5 (-110).
This is my favorite bet in this game. We know Alabama can run up the score in these games against early-season opponents but Middle Tennessee has a lot of trends in their favor as well. The Blue Raiders have hit the over in 4 of their last 6 road games and hit the over in 4 of their last 5 games overall. They also averaged 28.8 points per game last season.
It is not really worth me giving you the Alabama offensive numbers from last season because they are basically starting fresh this year.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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