Alabama Crimson Tide vs Western Kentucky Updated Odds: Cover or Not?

Saturday is Game 1 of the Kalen DeBoer era at Alabama. A non-Power team rolls into town, but they are no Alabama A&M. Western Kentucky has gone 9-5, 9-5, and 8-5 over the last three campaigns and recorded bowl wins in each of those seasons. There is little reason to believe WKU upsets the Crimson Tide. The point spread is a good indication of what Las Vegas thinks of this match-up. As of post, the spread is 31.5 points with an Over/Under of 59.5.

Last season, KDB’s Huskies were 7-7-1 against the spread (ATS). However, if you look at the “cupcake games” at the beginning of the season, he was 3-1 with the one under the spread being only a half point.

Boise was Washington’s first opponent of the 2023 season. The Broncos would finish the year 8-6 with a MWC championship. BSU feels like a similar opponent to UW as WKU might be to Alabama. In the third game of the Hilltoppers’ season, they were body-slammed by Ohio State 63-10.

For Western Kentucky, out is starting QB Austin Reed. In is TJ Finley now on his fourth college.

From a psychological point of view, it feels like this Crimson Tide team is ready to hit somebody other than their own scout team. The offense looks pretty stacked and able to name a score. But how early will DeBoer go to his bench and will he “vanilla” up the playbook?

MATH

According to the spread and over/under, the final score should be around 45-14.

45 – 14 = 31
45 + 14 = 59