#Alabama vs. Texas A&M: Aggies will cover spread

Last season, Alabama missed the College Football Playoff for the first time since its inception in 2014-15. The Crimson Tide started their revenge tour with a 38-19, non-covering win at Missouri. In fairness, Alabama led 35-3 late in the third quarter and pulled its starters to save them for games against bigger fish, such as Saturday’s visitor to Tuscaloosa, Texas A&M.

The Aggies never had a chance of covering as 31.5-point favorites in their opener last week. They struggled with sloppy play (including three turnovers) and special-teams mistakes, one of which led to a Vanderbilt safety. Texas A&M won only 17-12 over arguably the SEC’s worst team.

Since taking over in College Station, Jimbo Fisher has lost his first two matchups with Alabama by an average of 21.5 points (1-1 ATS). These are the games Fisher was hired to win. He was not hired on a big contract to go to the Gator Bowl and Texas Bowl. Now in his third season, Fisher is currently just 10-7 versus SEC opponents. He also is on a long list of former assistants to lose to Nick Saban, who is 19-0 against proteges.

Nevertheless, this line has increased from an opener of -13 at Circa Sports and may still have room to be bet up. Texas A&M obviously was looking ahead to this one, so a far sharper effort should be expected.

Very few programs can match Alabama’s talent level, but the Aggies have had back-to-back national top-five recruiting classes.

The plays: Texas A&M +18 and Under 52.5.