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Alabama doesn’t have much experience as a home underdog, but that’s the spot it finds itself in as the Crimson Tide prepare to face Georgia on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
The line can — and likely will — shift throughout the week, but, as of this writing, Alabama is a 2-point underdog (via bet365) against Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Given Nick Saban’s incredible tenure as Alabama’s head coach, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the Tide haven’t been underdogs at home since his first season at the helm way back in 2007.
In that game, Alabama was a 7-point underdog at home to an LSU team that went on to win the national champion that fall (the Tigers won 41-34 in Tuscaloosa).
Since then, Alabama has only ever been favored when playing at home — until this week.
How Alabama and Kalen DeBoer have performed as underdogs
Although there’s essentially no sample size of games for Alabama as a home underdog, the Crimson Tide were underdogs away from home occasionally during the Saban era. It happened exactly 12 times from 2007-23 — and Alabama went 6-6 straight up and 6-5-1 against the spread in those matchups.
Most recently, Alabama was a 2-point underdog to Michigan in the College Football Playoff last season. The Crimson Tide ended up losing 27-20 after Jalen Milroe was stuffed at the goal line on 4th down in overtime.
Kalen DeBoer was in this spot quite a bit during his 2 seasons as Washington’s head coach. The Huskies were underdogs in 6 games under DeBoer and they went 5-1 both straight up and against the spread. The only loss was to Michigan in the national championship game this past season when Washington lost 34-13 as 5.5-point underdogs. It’s worth noting that Washington was playing away from home in all 6 of those contests.
DeBoer also went 3-1 against the spread in 4 games as an underdog while serving as Fresno State’s head coach from 2020-21.
How Georgia has performed as a road favorite under Kirby Smart
On the other side of the field will be a No. 2 Georgia team that is surely eager to get revenge over Alabama. Over the last 4 seasons, the Bulldogs have only lost twice — both times to the Crimson Tide in SEC title games.
In the Kirby Smart era, Georgia has been favored on the road a total of 32 times. The Bulldogs are 30-2 straight up and 20-12 against the spread in those contest.
However, it’s worth noting that Georgia has failed to beat the number of in 6 of its last 8 games as a road favorite. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Bulldogs nearly lost outright to Kentucky as 3+ touchdown favorites in Lexington.
Georgia has not won outright in Tuscaloosa since 2007 when Matthew Stafford led the Bulldogs to an overtime win over the Crimson Tide.
Note: Trends via BetIQ.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
