Alabama flashed its dominant gear yet again in a 49-18 win over South Carolina on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide improved to 4-0 (2-0 SEC) with another victory brought glimpses of greatness. Kalen DeBoer's club has totaled between 45 and 50 points in all four outings this season while demonstrating a penchant for game-changing explosiveness. That explosiveness came in the form of a 35-3 start against the visiting Gamecocks as quarterback Keelon Russell threw four touchdowns in the first half.
The onslaught came a week after the Crimson Tide rallied from a 21-6 deficit to outscore Florida State 44-15 the rest of the way. Against Kentucky in Week 2, Alabama closed the game with 32 unanswered points. The Crimson Tide are far from perfect; they have put some defensive shortcomings on film the last two weeks, and they struggled to run the football consistently against the Gamecocks.
But they force turnovers and have now gone two games without committing any of their own. The makings of a great team are visible. With a little more defensive consistency and some better run blocking, the Crimson Tide will be rising even higher up the national title odds sheet.
We are handing out grades evaluating every team that started or ended the day with national championship odds of +3000 or better. 2026 national championship odds listed below courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Teams listed in order of their AP Top 25 ranking. Grade: C+ Result: 20-17 win at Tennessee Title odds: +600If Texas is going to compete for a national championship, it has myriad issues to address offensively.
Most notably, the Longhorns struggled to protect Arch Manning against Tennessee, and Manning couldn't deal with the pressure after a nearly perfect first quarter. With stars like Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo on the perimeter, generating explosive plays shouldn't be this hard. But the defense is doing its part and then some.
The Longhorns tied a program record with 10 sacks against the Volunteers and have allowed just one offensive touchdown in the last 10 quarters. Grade: B- Result: 41-13 win vs. Oklahoma Title odds: +550All Georgia had to do was get out of the way and let Oklahoma lose the game.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
