Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida State Seminoles Odds, Football Betting Pick

Alabama is a perfect 10-0 straight up in season openers under head coach Nick Saban, and 9-1 against the spread, all while going against quality competition. The Crimson Tide begin this season with bang as well when they take on fellow national championship contender Florida State Saturday night on a neutral field at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

College football point spread: The Crimson Tide opened as 6.5-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College football betting pick, via OddsShark computer: 39.3-29.7 Crimson Tide (College football picks on every game)

Why the Alabama Crimson Tide can cover the spread

Alabama, atop the College Football Preseason Power Rankings at PredictionMachine.com, returns 11 starters for this season, the same number it had back for last season. And that team basically came within one second of winning the national championship. Six starters are back on offense, led by sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts (2,780 passing yards last year, 954 yards rushing) and three along the offensive line. And five starters are back from a defense that held foes to just 261.8 yards and 13.0 points per game last season.

Over the last five years, the Crimson Tide have opened against Michigan, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin and USC—quality opponents all. Alabama won all five of those games by an average of 25 points per game, going 4-1 ATS in the process.

Why the Florida State Seminoles can cover the spread

Florida State gets back 15 starters this year from a team that finished last year with a five-game winning streak, capped off by a bowl upset of Michigan. Six starters are back on offense, including sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois (58.8 percent completions, 20-7 touchdowns to interceptions as a freshman last year) and three along the line. And nine starters are back from a defense that should improve upon the 25 points per game it allowed last season.

The Seminoles are not often listed as underdogs on the betting lines, but when they are, they're dangerous. Over the last couple of seasons, FSU is 2-2 SU and 3-0-1 ATS when getting points on the spread.

Smart pick

Alabama may have some holes to fill, but of course, tremendous talent awaits its chance. Plus, it sure seems Saban is good at getting his team ready for early-season big games. They may not win this one by 25 points, but the smart money here at online betting sites still rolls with the Tide.

College football betting trends

The total has gone over in 17 of Florida State's last 24 games as an underdog.

Florida State is 5-1 ATS in its last six games in Week 1.

Alabama is 8-1 ATS in its last nine games in Week 1.

All college football odds and betting trends courtesy of Bleacher Report's official odds partner, OddsShark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line-movement updates and the OddsShark YouTube page for picks and analysis, or download the free odds tracker app.