Life in the SEC means that a marquee road win over Georgia is followed by a matchup with another undefeated squad, and Alabama is living that reality this week when it welcomes Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt to Tuscaloosa.
Revenge will be the name of the game Saturday, as the Commodores notoriously embarrassed the then-top-ranked Crimson Tide with a 40-35 upset last year that shook up the SEC hierarchy and announced that Vandy was here to stay.
Fast forward a year later and things are quite different. Alabama has recovered from that upset–and a handful more–to now be among the favorites in the SEC.
But to many people’s surprise, joining the Crimson Tide in that tier is unbeaten Vanderbilt, which has already picked up an SEC win as well when it waltzed into Williams-Brice Stadium and thumped South Carolina earlier this month.
Now, Pavia & Co. are set to invade T-Town as they look to pull off yet another upset, because Circa Sports’ opening line still sees Alabama as a 12-point favorite despite its inferior record.
It is worth pointing out that Alabama is 6-6 against the spread and 8-4 straight up as a double-digit favorite under second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Of course, the Tide were 23.5-point favorites against Vandy last year, but that margin meant nothing by the time the Commodores’ goal post had made its way into a nearby river.
Parker is currently the sports editor with the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
