Oklahoma and Alabama get their rematch in the first round of the College Football Playoffs, and Alabama wants to avenge its regular season loss at home to the Sooners. Oddsmakers are putting No. 8 Oklahoma as the favorite for this contest, but it is not that big of a hurdle for the Crimson Tide. BetMGM Sportsbook has the Sooners as the -1.5 favorites, which means that this one could go to anyone.
Still, the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide are the underdogs here, and Kalen DeBoer’s crew have plenty to prove after losing the SEC title game and being the only three-loss team in the 12-team tournament.
While the odds are not that great, Alabama will be in hostile territory, as it will be played at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, and the crowd is expected to be overwhelmingly cheering for the Sooners. To win, Alabama must be able to weather that noise and silence the crowd by leading early. Should that crowd come alive late in the game, then the Tide will be in deep trouble, as this could energize their opponents.
That being said, there are plenty of other ways that the Tide can pull off the upset.
Can Alabama Pull Off The Upset?
One way is defense, as Alabama has shown that they can contain Sooners QB John Mateer and the Oklahoma offense, limiting them to only 212 total yards, as well as 3-of-13 on third downs, during that last contest. However, they still lost that game, so that defense can still be improved.
Alabama must also improve its offensive output, as its lackluster offense led to its defeat despite its defense being great. Ty Simpson must simply step up for Alabama and outshine John Mateer just for one night. The Crimson Tide have shown that they can do it, so pulling it off on hostile territory can be done.
As for whether Alabama can pull off such an upset, the answer is yes, they can. Kalen DeBoer’s crew have shown that they can pull off wins against much larger odds before, especially after that opening day upset against Florida State. The question now is, how can Alabama win this one?
Yes they can. The loss to OU at home was by a small margin, so DeBoer has to make some adjustments, and that is the key to victory.
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