Alabama Crimson Tide 2009 Betting Odds

The Alabama Crimson Tide 2009 betting odds were set at +350 to win the SEC Conference for a potential $350 payout on every $100 bet at SBG Global.   They would pay out $2250 for every $100 bet to win the BCS Championship.  Oddsmakers had the Crimson Tide winning UNDER 9 ½ regular season games in 2009.  The OVER 9 ½ games would pay out $125 for every $100 bet.

Alabama has excellent value, as confirmed by Scout.com:

Everyone is in love with Ole Miss, the hot program on a national scale going into the season. Everyone is assuming last year was an aberration for LSU and things will be back to normal this year. Even Arkansas is being given a little love with the pieces in place for Bobby Petrino to start doing what he'd like on offense. And then there's Alabama, who should be even better and more talented this year, but few are talking about national championship potential, and that's wrong. Bama has the rare chance to be able to use the "no one believes in us" cliché when it actually applies.

So why, outside of the Utah embarrassment, is Alabama not being put among the preseason favorites to end up in Pasadena? Maybe it's because it's too easy, and too lazy, to assume the team will slip after losing a few key players.

John Parker Wilson finished his career as the top passing quarterback in school history, but Greg McElroy should be a more than adequate replacement and he should be an even more perfect fit for what the offense wants to do. Andre Smith was the nation's best offensive lineman last year, but JUCO transfer James Carpenter appears to be a solid fill-in at left tackle. Rashad Johnson was the ultimate playmaker and leader for the defensive backfield, but the other three starters are back in the secondary and Robby Green, Johnson's replacement, was one of the stars of the offseason.

Glen Coffee is gone, but the backfield will be better with several good options ready to step up to carry the load. The great tight ends, Nick Walker and Travis McCall, have to be replaced, but Georgia Tech transfer Colin Peek has All-SEC potential. Antoine Caldwell was a sensational center, but William Vlachos is stronger and has looked terrific. Get the point? Bama has filled the holes, while everyone else of note is back.

Alabama coach Nick Saban still isn't ready to announce starters on his offensive line, though he's happier with the entire group than he was a week ago.

"There was a significant amount of improvement from last week's scrimmage to this week's scrimmage, in terms of ability to execute, consistency in performance and we made a lot more big plays," said Saban, whose fifth-ranked team kicks off his third Alabama season at 7 p.m. Sept. 5 against seventh-ranked Virginia Tech in Atlanta.

Stat to Watch:  The host in the Tennessee series is 2-15.  Unfortunately for Alabama, they are the hosts come Week 8.

Links and References:

Bet on the Alabama Crimson Tide here
College Football Previews from Scout.com here