LSU Alabama Betting: LSU And Alabama Clash For A Boatload Of Prizes
The LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide will be playing for the Southeastern Conference’s West Division title this weekend. That’s just a bread crumb in a larger context.
LSU Tigers @ Alabama Crimson Tide - Saturday, November 5
Sports betting line: Alabama -4 ½
Why LSU Will Win
The college football betting experts who study the Southeastern Conference have been waiting for this game for six weeks. It became clear in late September that LSU and Alabama were on a likely collision course, headed for a five-star matchup with dueling unblemished records and the two best profiles of any college football teams in the country. It’s now game week, which means that this matchup will be dissected to no end. Let’s give just a brief overview of what each team can bring to this battle.
The best reason to take LSU in this game is that the Tigers have speed, speed, speed and more speed. It’s not that Alabama’s slow; the Crimson Tide are quite formidable and athletic. However, LSU has placed a particular emphasis on being nimble enough to win every meaningful skirmish on the edges and in both backfields. The fact that LSU opened its season against the ultra-fast Oregon Ducks made the Bayou Bengals acutely aware of the need to be fast in the secondary and at linebacker. LSU thoroughly shut down Oregon’s running game in a 40-27 win that felt like a 25-point win more than a 13-point victory. Now, the Tigers can take the field against Alabama knowing that their running backs can turn the corner against the Tide’s linebackers and safeties. LSU knows that its receivers can outrun Bama’s corners in footraces. LSU knows that its own back seven on defense will be in the right position to defend against Alabama’s running game. LSU knows that Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron will have a tough time fitting the ball into tight windows against the Tigers’ back line of defense. Speed is the currency which will carry a great deal of value for the Tigers in this game. It’s why they have an excellent chance of prevailing on the road in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Why Alabama Will Win
When you do your homework and assess your sports bet on this game, you need to realize that for all of LSU’s successes, the Tigers remain a team quarterbacked by Jarrett Lee, a man who endured thoroughly mediocre seasons at best before flourishing this season. Moreover, Lee did not have to make that many big plays in LSU’s other key victories this season, against Oregon and West Virginia. The Tigers’ defense produced takeaways that shortened the field for LSU’s offense, and the Bayou Bengals also came up with game-changing special-teams plays that gave them a needed margin for error. Alabama’s defense ranks in the top three of several statistical categories; head coach Nick Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart are regarded as two of the best defensive minds in the college game. A team with a great defense and even better defensive strategists should be able to find the game plan that confuses Jarrett Lee and makes LSU’s offense crumble. Alabama might not score much against LSU’s fast defense, but the Tigers might score even fewer points against the Crimson Tide.
Who Will Win
It’s going to be an old-fashioned SEC slugfest. Neither team should score a lot, because both defenses should be a step ahead of the offenses. More specifically, neither quarterback is dynamic enough to outmaneuver the linebackers and safeties posed by the opposition. The sense here is that Jarrett Lee will make fewer mistakes than A.J. McCarron, enabling LSU to claim the most anticipated regular-season college football game in quite some time.
College Football Betting Pick: LSU
