With college football season on the horizon, ESPN Chalk's college football experts -- Phil Steele, "Stanford Steve" Coughlin and Chris Fallica -- combine to give you betting previews of the top 25 teams, according to the ESPN College Football Rankings. They break down each team's strengths and weaknesses, along with season win total bets and national title odds.
Odds from Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of Aug. 29.
Alabama Crimson Tide
National title odds: 5-2 (opened 3-1)
Season win total: 11
FPI win total projection: 10.8
Phil Steele
Strengths: Alabama has my No. 2-rated secondary with 10 of the top 12 defensive backs returning, including Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison. The front seven is loaded with talent and includes my No. 1-rated linebacker corps. I rate Alabama's offensive line No. 2 in the country, and the line will block for the best set of running backs, a unit that boasts Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris and Najee Harris -- all of whom are capable of starting for any team in the country. Calvin Ridley and Robert Foster lead my No. 5 set of receivers, and Jalen Hurts is the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year and the first returning starter at quarterback for the Tide since 2013.
Weaknesses: Alabama has been able to pressure quarterbacks without blitzing over the past two seasons, and while I like the front seven, the Tide will have to blitz more to match the 53 and 54 sack totals that the team has recorded in its past two campaigns. Alabama was just No. 41 in my special-teams rankings last season and loses its kicker, first-team SEC long-snapper and its top punt and kick returners.
Over/under (11): In the past six years, the Tide have lost a total of five regular-season games and topped 11 wins all but once. I have them favored in all 12 games this year. Take the over.
National title odds (5-2): Last year, the Tide were 6-1, and they are now the prohibitive favorite at 5-2. With six months to go and with the wager being basically one team against every other team, there is no value. They deserve to be the favorites, but this is a no play.
'Stanford Steve' Coughlin
Over/under (11): I think I have been wrong on the Crimson Tide's projected win total for five years running. Let's see if I can break the streak this time around. As I look at this year's Bama roster and schedule, it really doesn't have much to do with Nick Saban's team as much as it has to do with the other teams on the schedule and in the conference. The Tide's schedule features teams that are supposedly hungry and ready to prove it: Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU. Do you really think those teams are going to beat the Tide? I sure don't. I also expect, to plenty of criticism, Jalen Hurts to be playing at a high level this season. People seem to forget the spot he was put in last year. He was a true freshman quarterback for the top team in the land, and I thought he performed superbly in those circumstances. And he will have plenty of support this season, as Alabama also has a returning near-1,000-yard running back. I see the Tide as one of the four playoff teams, and I like the over.
Chris Fallica
Over/under (11): Just look at the regular-season win totals for Alabama since 2008: 12, 9, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 12. Only in 2010 have the Tide failed to win at least 11 regular-season games. FPI has the Tide's schedule rated 10th overall, but it also gives Alabama a 10 percent chance of winning out, which is the second-highest chance behind Ohio State. We know all of the losses Alabama accrued on draft day, but the offense should still be potent with Jalen Hurts, Bo Scarbrough (as well as highly touted freshman Najee Harris) and Calvin Ridley, and we should know by now that the Alabama defense will always be good, regardless of who it loses. Alabama has just two games in which it has less than a 80 percent chance to win, Florida State in Atlanta (59 percent chance to win) and at Auburn (56 percent chance to win). Will the Tide lose both? I think it's unlikely. With the track record that the team has under Nick Saban, it's hard to imagine Alabama falling below the 11-win mark in the regular season. Still, I don't like needing a perfect 12-0 season to cash a ticket. So while I think 12-0 is much more likely than 10-2, it's a tough thing to walk to the window needing perfection to cash.
National title odds (5-2): While the Tide are the deserving favorites, I wouldn't take 5-2 out of the gate. Say the Tide lose to Florida State in Week 1, you might be able to get a slightly better price, and if Alabama were to win the SEC, they would be a lock for the College Football Playoff. If Bama beats FSU, how much shorter can the number be? I don't think it will be enough to warrant not waiting until after the season opener -- or even until the CFP itself, should Alabama find itself there for the fourth straight season.