Alabama vs. Louisville Spread Prediction
After trash talking over the past week or so, the Louisville Cardinals will have to answer that chatter on Saturday night when they face No. 1 Alabama at 8:00 p.m. ET. Will the Crimson Tide cover as a heavy favorite tonight in Florida?
Game Snapshot
213 Louisville Cardinals vs. 214 Alabama Crimson Tide
8:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 1, 2018
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Crimson Tide are 24-point favorites to beat the Cardinals. The total, meanwhile, sits at 61.5 points. As of this writing, 51% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Cardinals.
Louisville Cardinals
Louisville HC Bobby Petrino said that some of the published comments attributed to his team regarding Alabama have been taken out of context. Petrino specifically referenced the comments of redshirt senior G Lukayus McNeil, who noted earlier this week that the O-line was “not worried” about handling Bama’s front. Said Petrino, “Obviously, our players have said a few things where only parts of what they said were taken and used as a quote.” In the case of McNeil, in particular, that’s completely fair, as he was speaking more to what Louisville’s line was capable of achieving, rather than making an outright boast. Less explainable would be Petrino’s own quotes regarding the Cardinals’ opener from a mid-August speech, when he said that “we will go beat them.”
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama sophomore QB Tua Tagovailoa and junior QB Jalen Hurts are listed as co-starters for Saturday’s opener against Louisville. If you’re curious — and you should be — Tagovailoa is listed first on the depth chart, but they’re on the same line, with the slash meaning OR in this case. It’s certainly possible we won’t know who the starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide is until game day, and it could be a mystery until we see one of the two in the huddle. Whoever is under center gives Alabama a chance to win a national title, but right now, we believe that Tagovailoa will be the starter.
Betting Trends
Louisville
The Cardinals are 5-12 against the spread in their last 17 games overall and 1-7-1 against the number in their last non-conference games.
UCLA
The Crimson Tide are 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games against ACC opponents and are 5-2 against the number in their last seven neutral site games.
Prediction
I admire Louisville’s confidence coming into tonight’s game but no matter who Alabama starts under center, the Tide should score at will tonight. This is the best and deepest receiver corps that Saban has had at Alabama and if Tagovailoa winds up playing the majority of the snaps, he can elevate this offense to new heights. We’ve seen Alabama roll opponents in this opening week before and I have no reason to believe Louisville will hang with the Tide tonight.
College Football Week 1 Prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide -24