Alabama vs. Tennessee Week 7 college football odds, trends: Sportsbooks heavily exposed on Volunteers in unbeaten SEC showdown

There are 15 unbeaten teams left in college football. At least two will lose Saturday because No. 10 Penn State faces No. 5 Michigan at noon, and No. 3 Alabama is at No. 6 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS in the SEC Game of the Week. The latter is taking easily the most action of any game this week, and the sportsbooks are hugely exposed on Tennessee, which is down to a 7-point underdog from an open of 8 – it was +7.5 most of the week.

At Caesars Sportsbook, 87.2% of the money is on Tennessee to cover and 84.7% of the tickets. The Volunteers (+235) have also secured twice as many moneyline bets as any other team. At BetMGM, only 16% of the bets (and 6% of the money) are on Alabama. According to that book, since 2015 when the Tide are getting less than 50% of the wagers, Nick Saban's team is 12-5 against the spread. It's the first time since 2016 that the teams have met with both ranked in the Top 10. ESPN's College GameDay will be on hand. 

"If it continues to trend Tennessee getting this much of the tickets and money, it will definitely be one of our biggest decisions of the regular season," said Joey Feazel, lead college football trader at Caesars Sportsbook. "I wasn't expecting this much popularity for Tennessee, but I can understand it. Alabama was a play away from losing last week, and Tennessee won handedly against a solid team on the road. It's the same thing with their futures prices, the stock value of Alabama is going down and Tennessee's odds improve by the week. But with Bryce Young looking like he'll be back and how much he means to this team, that's why the line is still where it's at."

Alabama has won 15 in a row in the series. As Feazel noted, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is expected to return after missing last week's close win over Texas A&M due to injury (probably a big reason spread dropped a half-point). Don't expect Saban to tip his hand and make an offical announcement. Young is now +1400 to become the second player ever to win a second Heisman Trophy. Vols QB Hendon Hooker is a +1000 third favorite. Ohio State's CJ Stroud is the clear-cut -140 leader. The Buckeyes are off this week.

"Bryce has practiced some this week," Saban said Thursday night on his radio show. "I think it comes down to does he feel and do we feel that he can throw the ball effectively enough. He's not gonna hurt himself by doing it. I just don't know how much it will hurt him if he does it. He's done it on a limited basis. So that's the question, and nobody's gonna know that until Saturday comes. He won't know, I won't know it, nobody will know it. I know he wants to play, and I know he thinks he can play. And we'll see, we'll see."

Saban is a ridiculous 54-3 in his career at Alabama in October, although the three losses were on the road. The Tide also have won 27 straight regular-season games against SEC Eastern Division opponents, dating back to a 35-21 loss at then-No. 19 South Carolina on Oct. 9, 2010. The Tide had won 34 straight overall against the East prior to a loss to Georgia in last season's national title game.

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