Alabama at Tennessee odds: Early point spread released, How to Watch

Hype is building ahead of this season’s Third Saturday in October clash between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers.

FanDuel Sportsbook has released their early point spread for the showdown. At the time of this writing, Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama squad is favored by 2.5 points over Josh Heupel’s Tennessee team, while the over/under has been set at 52.5 points.

Both squads seemed primed to be undefeated for their matchup, but that all changed over this past weekend. Alabama fell to Vanderbilt in shocking fashion, while Tennessee couldn’t overcome Arkansas in Fayetteville, leading to this season’s Third Saturday in October becoming a game where both teams will be trying to avoid a second loss, providing they get through Week 7 unscathed.

Alabama will welcome South Carolina to Tuscaloosa, as the Gamecocks look to continue the hurt the Commodores put on the Crimson Tide. Meanwhile, Tennessee will return home to face Florida, as the Gators seem to finally be hitting their stride in 2024.

The matchup will have juice regardless, but an undefeated showdown would’ve been epic. Now, ESPN executives must be hoping both only have one blemish on their resume, with the showdown between the Volunteers and Crimson Tide taking place in a little over a week.

How to Watch Alabama at Tennessee

Time: Saturday 10/19 | 3:30 ET
Channel: ABC/ESPN+, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, TN

Moreover, while Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt overtook headlines in Week 6, analysts like Paul Finebaum also threw some shade at Tennessee for losing to Arkansas over the weekend.

Finebaum thinks there was too much hype around Tennessee considering their actual resumé. They blew out two mid-majors by nearly 70 apiece, handled NC State, who’s now 3-3, by 41, and beat a decent team in Oklahoma on the road. However, after this, none of that looks as notable as it did at the end of September.

“This Tennessee team that we bought because they beat an absolutely miserable NC State team and a good Oklahoma team just nowhere to be found? Nico looked like a young player, not a Heisman candidate that so many tried to make him out to be,” said Finebaum. “It feels a little aberrational.”

“We’re now finally at the point where we quit making these rash judgments. We did about Tennessee. It was easy to do. The NC State game was a fraud because there was nothing to be learned. I thought winning at Norman really told us a lot about this program. Now? No.”

Alas, a victory over Alabama at home can do wonders for the Volunteers’ resumes, and their championship dreams. The season is far from over for both schools, as Tennessee and Alabama will be pining for a huge victory against one another.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.