Sugar Bowl Utah vs Alabama

A game that will surely be hailed as a David vs. Goliath type of sports betting match-up occurs Friday night in New Orleans when the menacing Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1 SU, 9-4 ATS) play the undefeated Utah Utes (12-0 SU, 7-4 ATS) in SEC country. Alabama is still smarting after a 31-20 NCAA wagering loss against Florida in the SEC Championship game that cost them a chance at playing for the national championship. Meanwhile, the Utes are looking to prove that they belong with the big boys of college football and will try to prove their merit in this spot.

Nick Saban has announced that Alabama is back to reclaim their place in the college football hierarchy after only his second season on the job. Saban’s old-school philosophy of winning with a bruising rushing attack and a stifling defense has fattened Tide bettors wallets along with bringing respectability back to the “Hounds tooth Hat.” Spearheading the Crimson Tide’s rushing attack is RB Glen Coffee, the SEC’s leading rusher with 220 carries for 1347 yards and 10 touchdowns. Super freshman WR Julio Jones has also been a contributor in his first season in the crimson and white, leading the team with 51 catches for 847 yards and 4 touchdown snags.

Alabama’s defense has been lights out this season allowing just 256.9 YPG, which equates to the third ranked stop unit in the nation. Their 13.0 PPG allowed is also one of the lowest numbers allowed ranking them sixth among all 119 FBS teams. Alabama’s defense has come on strong late this season, as seven of their last eight games have gone under the ‘total’ per the closing college football betting odds.

Utes bettors will be placing their money in the hands of HC Kyle Whittingham and MWC MVP QB Brian Johnson. Johnson has dazzled opponents this season, completing 68.3% of his passes for 2636 yards with 24 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. The dual threat rushing attack of Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack made contributions as well, combining to tote the rock 252 times for 1201 yards with 14 touchdowns this season.

In the last half of the season, NCAA bettors watched as Utah became a covering machine, finishing ahead of the number in five of their last six games. The Utes were also money printing presses for over bettors with their high-octane offense pushing nine of their 11 games against FBS opponents over the ‘total’.

NCAAF betting trends to know for this game are as follows: Utah is 40-19 ATS as an underdog over its past 59 games, Alabama is 7-3 ATS as a favorite this season, and the ‘under’ is 7-3 in games where Alabama was installed the decided favorite.

The current BetOnline NCAA line has the Crimson Tide tagged as a 9-point favorite in this game with a ‘total’ of 46 points.

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