Bodog Beat

Alabama Crimson Tide are favored by 14 points against Tennessee Volunteers. (Wikimedia Images)

If you believe it potential trap games, Saturday’s Tennessee at Alabama game could be one when placing your NCAA football bets – the Tide, who are the new No. 1 in the AP poll, are 15.5 betting favorites on Bodog’s college football odds.

Tennessee is coming off a bye week, thus having nearly two full weeks to prepare for this one. And the Vols played their best game in the short Lane Kiffin era before the bye, beating Georgia 45-19. UT QB Jonathan Crompton is much-maligned in Knoxville, but he threw for 310 yards and four TDs against the Dawgs. It appears Kiffin is loosening the leash on Crompton a bit, and the senior has not thrown more than one pick or had less than two TD passes in a game since the Florida loss.

Also, the Tide have played back-to-back physical games against ranked teams and might not feel too threatened by a Tennessee team that Alabama has beaten by a combined 70-26 the past two seasons. The fact that Bama moved up to No. 1 does not bode well for a straight-up Tennessee upset when pondering the college football odds on this one. UT is 2-7 against the No. 1 team all-time but hasn’t beaten once since 1985. Plus the ranked or higher-ranked team has a 45-9-2 record in the series.

The Vols do have a good defense, as Florida can attest, so look for them to focus on stopping red-hot Alabama RB Mark Ingram with Bama QB Greg McElroy struggling lately (no TD passes in past two games, two picks last week). Ingram might be the Heisman favorite after rushing for 246 yards last week against South Carolina. He also shares the team lead with 19 catches, and his 30 runs of 10-plus yards leads the nation.

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