Oddsmakers Hate Alabama!....Tide Opens as 10 point Underdog vs. Gators

A No. 1 team is supposed to be the favorite, not the underdog. 

The Las Vegas odds makers have installed Alabama, who is No. 1 in the BCS, as a 10-point underdog against Florida in the SEC Championship game Saturday.

Who are you going to believe?  The BCS, who says Alabama is the best team in the country, or the odds makers who say Alabama isn't really that good? 

I believe the people making the odds!

I believe that Alabama isn't close to being the best team in the country, and the only reason they are rated No. 1 by the BCS is because they are undefeated.  This rating system just exposes the inadequacy of the BCS. 

They don't even have the right undefeated team in the No. 1 position.  Utah is clearly more deserving!

Utah has defeated two teams ranked in the BCS, while Alabama has only defeated one.  The Utes beat No. 11 TCU and No. 18 BYU.  Alabama has only beaten No. 16 Georgia.

In years past, one could make a case for Alabama on the basis of how tough it is to play in the SEC.  This year, you can't say that, because the SEC is not a very good conference.

Who has Alabama beaten besides the three-loss Georgia Bulldogs?  They beat Mississippi, Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU.  With the exception of Ole Miss, every one of those teams had a sub-par year at best.

Auburn and Tennessee finished the regular season with losing records.  Florida will be Alabama's first chance to prove they belong at the top.

If Alabama defeats Florida—and they certainly could—I and most everyone else would be proven wrong.  But, I don't believe this will happen.

The Las Vegas odds makers—the real pollsters—have made it clear that they don't think much of Alabama.  The 10-point margin on a neutral field is a huge.

The odds makers either know the Tide has too many weaknesses, or they just don't respect the fact that they are undefeated.

I think it's a little of both.  They don't think Alabama can stay with the Gators at this point of the season, but they also aren't giving Alabama enough credit for winning every time they played.

One might say that Alabama has become the Rodney Dangerfield of college football—they just don't get any respect!