A couple of squads that had winning campaigns a year ago, the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide are meeting the Louisville Cardinals. The game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. ET and ABC will showcase the action.
Louisville Cardinals vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Preview
Louisville is a heavy live dog here and is currently getting 25 points by oddsmakers. Some decent in-game betting opportunities should exist during this contest, and Vegas has placed the over/under (O/U) at 60.5 points.
Sharp bettors have been siding with the over. This game’s total initially opened at only 53.5.
Overall, the Cardinals were 8-5 straight-up (SU) in 2017 while the Tide performed better with a 13-1 SU record last year. When playing against conference competition, the Cardinals were 4-4 SU and the Crimson Tide were 7-1 SU versus Southeastern squads. Both teams finished 4-0 SU against out-of-conference opponents in 2017.
The Cardinals averaged 299 passing yards per game and 254 rushing yards per game against their eight ACC opponents last year. They managed to score 36.5 points per game against those opponents while giving up 33.4 per contest. When facing non-conference schools, they averaged 44.0 points-for and 14.5 points-against, along with 333 pass yards per game and 242 rush yards per contest.
Against non-conference foes, the Tide passed for 200 yards per game and ran for 246 per game on their way to 40.5 points per outing. When playing only SEC opponents, the offense registered 38.4 points per game by averaging 200 passing yards and 275 rushing yards. The Crimson Tide defense allowed 10.0 PPG to non-conference foes and 12.3 to SEC teams in 2017
Each of these schools was highly effective in the ground game last year. The Crimson Tide recorded 5.7 yards per carry while the Cardinals offensive scheme produced a YPC of 6.4.
NCAA Pick: Louisville Cardinals at Alabama Crimson Tide
SU Winner – Alabama, ATS Winner – Louisville, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
Louisville created 33 rushing touchdowns last season.
Alabama put up a whopping 36 rushing touchdowns last season.
The Cardinals registered 6.4 yards per carry last season while allowing a YPC of 4.1 to opponents.
The Crimson Tide registered 5.7 yards per carry last season and gave up 2.7 YPC to opponents.
Louisville threw for 29 passing touchdowns last season.
Alabama logged 28 passing touchdowns last season.
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