#11 Tennessee vs #6 Alabama Picks

[SBR Andy]

It's an SEC showdown in Saturday night when the 5-1 Crimson Tide host the 5-1 Volunteers at 7:30 PM ET on ABC.

The Vols look to make it back-to-back wins over the Tide after upsetting them 24-17 last year.

Can Tennessee hang close again this year or will Alabama pull away?

[SBR Andy]

SBR's Isaiah Sirois takes a look at the matchup in his early Tennessee vs Alabama prediction:

Alabama -8 (-110 BetMGM)

"Handicapping Saturday’s Tennessee vs. Alabama game is a bit tricky. On the one hand, Alabama nearly lost to Florida State while Tennessee nearly beat Georgia. On the other hand, Alabama has handled every SEC opponent capably since then, and Tennessee’s quality loss to Georgia looks increasingly suspect as the Bulldogs have underwhelmed every week. But as long as the Tide don’t return to their inefficient ways from Week 1, Alabama should win and cover.

Tennessee deserves plenty of credit for overcoming the shock departure of quarterback Nico Iamaleava, but his replacement, Joey Aguilar, probably won’t deliver an upset on the Third Saturday of October. Aguilar ranks 19th in passing efficiency score (162.3), which trails Alabama’s Ty Simpson (172.4), who leads the conference in the metric. Worse, Aguilar has thrown five interceptions to Simpson’s one.

You just can’t turn the ball over and expect to cover against Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Vanderbilt learned that the hard way just a few weeks ago. For his career, Aguilar is a far worse quarterback on the road – his home passing efficiency score (170.7) and interception rate (1.8%) are far, far better than his road passing efficiency score (128.3) and total interception rate (3.7%).

I doubt we get under 7 for this one, so either hold and hope the public hammers Tennessee (and drops the number in the process) or commit to the current number of -8 and hope the market wisens up to Aguilar’s brutal home-away splits."