Alabama vs LSU Week 10 Odds, Picks, and Predictions

• Alabama /LSU is once again shaping up to be the game of the year
• It won’t be ManBall Christmas, though
• Can LSU keep up with the Alabama offense?

Alabama vs LSU is the most important matchup of the weekend by far. In fact, this game might well serve as the first elimination round of the College Football Playoff. Both teams are currently ranked within the Playoff Committee’s all-important top four, but that will almost certainly change with the result of this game.

Alabama (#1) vs LSU (#4) Odds

That’s a pretty dramatic line for two top-four teams, but Alabama has been pretty dramatic all year.

Explosive Offense Will Define this Game, Strangely Enough

Both teams also enter this game with uncharacteristically explosive offenses. In perhaps the most famous iteration of the Alabama/LSU rivalry, the 2011 Game of the Century, both teams wrestled back and forth on the 50-yard line and the final score was 9-6. That won’t happen this weekend, as Alabama’s offense is averaging 54 points per game and the LSU Tigers are fielding a (wait for it) quarterback. 

That duel might dominate the narrative of this game. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the most efficient quarterback in college football history, and currently the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. LSU QB Joe Burrow isn’t known for his efficiency, but brings an aggressive deep threat to LSU’s gameplan. Bettors taking the under and relying on history to repeat itself might be in for something of a shock, as both teams are more than capable of scoring fistfuls of points.

Defensive Talent Everywhere You Look

Fans of defensive talent won’t be left wanting, however. This matchup will likely feature double-digit future NFL draft picks just on the defensive side of the ball. Alabama’s Quinnen WIlliams, Raekwon Davis, Mack Wilson, and Dylan Moses should all be first-rounders, as will Deionte Thompson. LSU’s Devin White (suspended for the first half) and Greedy Williams are the highest rated prospects at their positions. Grant Delpit has been compared to Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Alabama vs LSU Betting Advice

It’s hard to fade the Crimson Tide, given how excellent they’ve been all year. College football fans have long believed that the deal Nick Saban made with the devil included some kind of clause about never getting a truly dynamite quarterback or a replacement-level kicker. This year it seems he’s gotten the first one, at least.

Still, a 14-point line in a rivalry game against one of the top-ranked teams in the country is ridiculous. It makes LSU the heaviest top-five underdog in decades. As bettors we have a responsibility to throw a flag on that kind of thing, and so we should.