Louisville vs. Alabama Total Prediction
One of the bigger Week 1 matchups on Saturday will pit Louisville versus No. 1 Alabama at 8:00 p.m. ET from Orlando, Florida. Will the game turn high-scoring for bettors and for the fans at Camping World Stadium?
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 63.5 points. As of this writing, 53% 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 under is 4-1 in the Cardinals’ last five games versus SEC opponents but the over is 7-2 in their last nine games played in the month of September.
UCLA
The over is 19-6-1 in the Crimson Tide’s last 26 games played at neutral site venues.
Prediction
I’m expecting that Tagovailoa will start the game for Alabama, or at least play significant snaps against Louisville. If I’m right, he’ll run an offense that could be as explosive as any offense that Nick Saban has had at Alabama. Granted, Saban will also have an outstanding defense again this year but I see the offense exploding on Saturday night and cashing the over for bettors with such tickets.
College Football Prediction: Louisville/Alabama over 62