Betting
Spread
TA&M favouredMarket ALA −2.5Ours TA&M −1.1
ALA favouredgap 3.6 toward TA&M
Grey dot: the market · gold: our card line · small dot: FEI (bcftoys.com). A gap is a reason to look, not to bet.
Vegas
| Team | Spread | Points | Moneyline | Win% | Kalshi |
|---|
| TA&M away | +2.5 | 26.0 | +120 | 43.7% | — |
| ALA home | -2.5 | 28.5 | -142 | 56.3% | — |
| Total | 54.5 | |
The closing line: this game was played before live prices were being collected.
Our model — cards
| Team | Spread | Points | Win% | vs book |
|---|
| TA&M away | -1.0 | 27.8 | 53.6% | -3.5 |
| ALA home | +1.0 | 26.7 | 46.4% | +3.5 |
| Total | no total model | | | |
FEI — bcftoys.com
Nothing to show for this game.
"Points" is the implied score for each side: a spread and a total are the margin and the sum, so solving them back out says what each team is expected to score. A favourite is shown negative, the way a book quotes it. "vs book" is that model's line for the team minus the book's, so a plus means the model makes them the weaker side. Our cards are EA College Football 27 launch ratings rolled up; the gap between two teams is multiplied by a scale fitted on this season's results (real margins have run about 1.8 times the raw gap), plus 2.5 points of home field; the win chance comes from how far 7,877 FBS results landed from a line. FEI is Brian Fremeau's projection, shown as a reference only: measured on his own results pages it went 49.9% against the spread over 3,101 games (2022–25), and the pickers never see it. Neither model has shown it beats a closing line.
Team ratings
| Points vs an average FBS team | TA&M | ALA |
|---|
| Offence (cards) | +6.616th | +5.026th |
| Defence (cards) | +3.49th | +3.112th |
| Card team rating | +10.010th | +8.118th |
| SP+ (CFBD's rating, theirs) | +8.939th | +23.06th |
| FEI (bcftoys.com, theirs) | +0.621st | +1.25th |
| F+ (FEI + SP+, theirs) | +0.828th | +1.86th |
| Card line | ALA +1.1 (the gap ×1.87, fitted on 215 games, plus 2.5 home field) |
| Returning production | 73% | 26% |
Cards are EA College Football 27's Week 3 Ratings (EA re-rates weekly; we take the newest) with CFBD's measured stats shown beside them; the team rating rolls EA's starters up with the NFL position weights, unmeasured for college. SP+ is opponent-adjusted; ours is not yet.
Quarterbacks
Marcel Reed TA&M87 ▼1 overall · Junior
Points added per play0.054
Completion55.4%
TD–INT6-4
Pass attempts, median game28
Pass yards, median game198
Rush yards, median game19
Games this season4
Team throws per game34.8
Keelon Russell ALA84 ▲2 overall · Freshman
Points added per play0.577
Completion70.9%
TD–INT8-2
Pass attempts, median game29
Pass yards, median game288
Rush yards, median game46
Games this season4
Team throws per game28.0
The starter comes from the maintained depth chart (cfbdepth.com). The rating is EA College Football 27's Week 3 Ratings (EA re-rates weekly; we take the newest); everything under it is what CFBD has measured this season, as a median game rather than a total so a man who missed time is not shrunk.
Against the number
| Team | ATS | Cover% | vs spread | O/U | vs total |
|---|
| TA&M away | 2-2 | 50% | -5.8 | 2-2 | +1.3 |
| ALA home | 3-1 | 75% | +10.5 | 4-0 | +17.3 |
Against DraftKings' closing number, this season. A record of what happened and nothing more — cover rates do not predict, which is why the pickers never see them.
Streak trends
| Team | Split | Streak (4+), and what happened next in 8,097 games |
|---|
| TA&M | division | failed to cover 4 straight — next game covered 52.7% of the time (6098 cases) |
| ALA | all | won 4 straight — next game covered 50.4% of the time (16696 cases) |
| ALA | all | gone over 4 straight — next game went over 47.1% of the time (5399 cases) |
| ALA | favourite | won 5 straight — next game covered 50.1% of the time (12375 cases) |
| ALA | favourite | gone over 4 straight — next game went over 47.1% of the time (5399 cases) |
| ALA | day | won 4 straight — next game covered 50.4% of the time (16696 cases) |
| ALA | day | gone over 4 straight — next game went over 47.1% of the time (5399 cases) |
Cover, win/loss and over/under streaks in every split (home, away, favourite, underdog, division, primetime, big favourite), counted against the closing line. Measured over every FBS season on file: cover and over/under streaks revert (fade 6+); college win/loss streaks tell you nothing against the spread (50%), so they are shown here but the picker ignores them. These never reach the pickers' bundle; the "streak" row on the picks board bets on its own.
Venue, weather, rest and travel
Built when the game's bundle is (Bryant-Denny Stadium).
Who is out (reported)
No news read for this game yet.
Covers.com injury tags
| Team | Player | Status | Since | Note |
|---|
| TA&M | M. Craver WR | questionable Undisclosed | Thu, Oct 1 | Craver is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and it is unclear whether he will play against Arkansas on Saturday. |
| TA&M | T. Norman WR | questionable Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 27 | Norman is dealing with an undisclsoed injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be active agaisnt Arkansas on Saturday, October 3th. |
| TA&M | J. Morrow RB | questionable Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 27 | Morrow is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and it is unclear whether he will play against Arkansas on Saturday, October 3th. |
| TA&M | T. Bussey WR | out Undisclosed | Mon, Sep 21 | Bussey is tending to an undisclosed injury, and he has been shut down for the remainder of the season. |
| TA&M | M. Williams WR | out Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 6 | Williams has been out of commission due to an undisclosed injury, and it is anticipated that he will miss the remainder of the season. |
| TA&M | T. Riden Jr. RB | out Undisclosed | Thu, Aug 27 | Riden Jr. has suffered an undisclosed injury, and it is anticipated that he will miss the remainder of the season. |
| ALA | A. Walker WR | questionable Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 27 | Walker is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and it is uncertain if he will play against Mississippi State on Saturday, October 3th. |