Alabama Arkansas Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd on September 18, 2008

Last September, the Crimson Tide upset 16th ranked Arkansas to give coach Nick Saban his first win over a ranked team since being hired to get the program back on the brink of winning national championships. Now Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino will be looking to return the favor against the 9th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Bookmaker has listed the Hogs as 9.5-point home underdogs with the total set at 46.5.

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Saban led the Tide to a 7-6 record during the team’s 2007 transition season and all six of those losses were by seven or fewer points. Saban gave Tide fans reason to be optimistic about the future of the program in his first season at the helm and last year’s 41-38 shocker over Arkansas was certainly one of the big highlights.

The Tide blew a pair of 21-point leads in last year’s game, but scored with just eight ticks remaining to cement the victory. That was Alabama’s first win in conference play under Saban and now the head coach has the Tide in the AP’s top 10 for the first time since the final poll of the 2005 season.

Petrino hopes his Arkansas team can take a similar path and a win this week would go a long ways in doing so. Arkansas went 8-5 last season and finished outside the top 25 despite being stacked with the most talented backfield in the country, two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden and fellow first-round draft pick Felix Jones.

It would appears that Petrino is going to have his work more than cut out for himself in his team’s first major test of the year as the Tide have put together three impressive efforts to start the season.
Alabama outgained Western Kentucky 557-158 in last week’s 41-7 rout. QB John Parker Wilson completed 17 of 27 passes for 215 yards and two scores.

The defense was even more impressive. Despite losing six starters, the Tide have allowed only one touchdown through the first three games and lead the FBS in rushing defense – holding the opposition to just 42.7 yards per game. The Tide are allowing a ridiculous 1.9 yards per carry. If you think the Crimson Tide defense will be too tough for the Razorbacks, you can bet Alabama at -8.5 at JustBet for the best line.

The Razorbacks were supposed to play at Texas last Saturday before Hurricane Ike changed that. It would have been nice for Arkansas to see a high-caliber opponent to help it better prepare for this SEC opener.

The Razorbacks narrowly defeated Louisiana-Monroe 28-27 on September 6th on a Casey Dick to D.J. Williams eight-yard touchdown strike with under two minutes remaining. Getting behind early has been the theme for the Razorbacks this season. They have trailed at the half in both of their games and have only led for a total of 3:11 in the second half of both of their wins.

Arkansas has moved the ball, but it has failed to come away with points on numerous occasions. The Razorbacks are not going to be able to afford another sluggish start against a team of the caliber of Alabama and will luckily have some home field advantage on their side.

The teams last two meetings have been decided by a total of four points and if you are expecting another close outcome, then bet Arkansas at +9.5 at BetUS and receive up to a 50% signup bonus.

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