College Football Picks Week 4: Arkansas Razorbacks at Alabama Crimson Tide

The No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-0) and No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide are ready to start Southeastern Conference play Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL. 

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 EDT and will be nationally-televised on CBS with play-by-play broadcaster Verne Lundquist and color analyst Gary Danielson.

Alabama came back from a 20-7 second half deficit to eventually capture a 24-20 win as 6.5-point road favorites in last year's meeting in Fayetteville.

Let's take a closer look at this matchup from a betting perspective.

Alabama in SEC Openers

Nobody opens up SEC play like the Alabama Crimson Tide, posting a 53-21-3 all-time record when opening the conference schedule, including 19 straight wins in the situation.

Bettors will find that the Crimson Tide are 14-3 straight-up in SEC play over the last two seasons, but just 9-8 ATS.

Four of the 19 victories have come against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Arkansas First-Half Scoring

The Arkansas Razorbacks like to start fast and have outscored opponents by a significant 85-10 margin in the first 30 minutes of action.

It's also important to note that head coach Bobby Petrino walked his team into halftime last year in this series with a 17-7 lead.

The scoring disparity may move in the other direction come Saturday, as the Crimson Tide have allowed just three points in the first half in three games.

Nick Saban's September Numbers

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has been a money-making machine in college football's opening month, posting an 11-3 ATS record in September.

The Crimson Tide faithful have watched their beloved program register 18-straight wins during the month since the 2008 campaign.

Arkansas can't be taken lightly due to its 4-1 ATS mark during the month.

Razorbacks' Red-Zone Success

The Arkansas Razorbacks haven't played very stiff competition through the opening three weeks, but they've still managed to come away with points in all 13 trips inside the red zone.

Alabama is going to likely ruin those perfect numbers, allowing just six points a game, while also holding opponents to just 2.5 yards per play.

From a betting perspective, it's always a good thing to play an underdog that is successful in scoring inside the 20-yard line.

Alabama vs. Ranked Competition

The Alabama football program lives for playing big-time games under Nick Saban, registering a 15-5 record against AP Top 25 opponents over the last three campaigns.

Two weeks ago, the Crimson Tide came away with a dominating 27-11 win over the then-No. 23 Penn State Nittany Lions, covering the number as 10-point road favorites.

Playing against such opponents is nothing new around these parts, tallying a 5-3 mark in such contests a season ago.

Quarterbacks

Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson is obviously highly-talented, completing 59-of-86 passes for five touchdowns and two interceptions. 

He will have a difficult time matching Ryan Mallett's 357 passing yards from a year ago in this matchup, but will likely focus on not throwing three interceptions like his predecessor did.

Alabama sophomore signal-caller AJ McCarron has completed 64 percent of his passes for 579 yards and two touchdowns in the last two games.

SEC insiders are expecting this game to be one on the ground, which calls for McCarron to simply manage the game. 

The Crimson Tide finished last year's game with a 165-yard edge in rushing yards.

Trent Richardson, Alabama RB

Trent Richardson carried the ball eight time for 85 yards against Arkansas in 2010, but with Mark Ingram playing on Sundays, the powerful running back will be seeing his number called a lot more this time around.

The talented junior has found the end zone eight times already and has gone above the 100-yard mark in his last two games.

Alabama also has a big-time player backing up the Heisman Trophy candidate, as Eddie Lacy completed the only backfield nationally that possesses two runners who are averaging over 100 yards a game.

Prediction

The series has been very competitive in Las Vegas over the past 10 years, as each team has come away with the money five times.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has had the best of Arkansas' Bobby Petrino since they've first met in 2008, winning all three games by a combined 108-41 margin.

That was enough for me to make the Crimson Tide a selection earlier this week.