Either he doesn’t know or doesn’t care that Alabama is the be-all, end-all of NCAA football betting. Vanderbilt DL Nifae Lealao was so high on life following the Commodores’ win over Kansas State 14-7 on Saturday that he did not hesitate to channel his inner Bill Goldberg and say, “Alabama, you’re next!” The late, great Rowdy Roddy Piper once said that you do not throw rocks at a man with a machine gun. Sage words to live by.
#Vandy's Nifae Lealao: "We expected to get this. When you come to our house we show you how to play some SEC ball… Alabama, you're next." pic.twitter.com/koegcHRZnE
— Justin Beasley (@JBeasleyOpinion) September 17, 2017
- Date: September 23rd
- Time: 3:35 PM
- Venue: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, TN
- Sportsbook Vegas odds College Football Betting:
Alabama -18½ (-110) -1100
Vanderbilt +18½ (-110) +700
The House that Vanderbilt
The Commodores have reason, having started 3-0 for the first time since 2011 and defeated a ranked non-SEC opponent for the first time since 1946, to feel optimistic. And speaking of ranked teams, “We don’t play for rankings,” head coach Derek Mason said. “We play the games to win … hopefully, (my words) don’t turn off the voters.” As fate would have it, Vandy just missed, with the 29th-most points, both the AP and Coaches polls. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the Commodes beat Kansas State by attrition, and defense alone will not be enough to stay within the 18-point spread against Jalen Hurts – whom they may not be so lucky, as they were against Kansas State, to sack five times. Then again, while the Crimson Tide has covered in four of their last five overall games, they are just 2-4-1 against the NCAA football betting spread in the last seven meetings with Vandy. “Alabama, Alabama A&M, it’s all the same,” Mason said per Fox Sports. “We have to be about the work. Again, there are no guarantees.”
Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me
The Roll Tide beat, to improve their record to 3-0, Colorado State 41-23 on Saturday, but the Rams still managed to gain 391 yards of total offense and 23 points, neither nor of which any team but Clemson had been able to do since October of last year. Once could almost say that Alabama’s defense was crucified out there. One could also say that they are in dire need of redemption. Who better, for that job, than the redeemer of all mankind? “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” senior linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said via AL.com. “We’ve got to get back to the drawing board because that was just pathetic. We were just on the field entirely too long. We’ve got to get back and work hard because we’re fixing to get into SEC play. We’re going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting on Monday.”
Of course, even if the Tide doesn’t allow, as it did Colorado State, Vandy as many points, that doesn’t mean the total would not go over, as it has in five of Alabama’s last six road games. On the other hand, the NCAA football betting total has gone under in the last five encounters between these two teams.