At noon ET on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns face off against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.
Alabama opened between a 17.5- and 18.5-point favorite depending on the sportsbook, and as of writing, the Tide are up to a 20.5-point favorite on the road in Texas.
Since at least 1975, Texas has never been bigger than a two-TD underdog at home in Austin. The Longhorns' largest underdog at home prior to Saturday came back in 2014 when they were a 14-point home underdog against Baylor — a 28-7 loss to the Bears.
In the overall scheme of things, the 20.5-point spread for Texas is also one of the biggest for the school in any game in recent history.
The biggest question from Longhorn Nation heading into their tilt against Alabama is, "can we pull the upset?" (probably not the biggest question, but definitely top of mind).
As 20.5-point underdogs, if Texas is able to take out the Tide at home, it will be tied for their biggest upset since 1975.
The others on the list?
Texas beat Baylor back in 2015 also as 20.5-point underdogs in its final game of the regular season. Back in 1996, the Longhorns also took out No. 3 Nebraska as 20.5-point dogs in the Big 12 Championship game.
When looking at the early betting markets, people cannot stop placing bets on the Crimson Tide. According to Action Network betting percentages, 83% of bets and 89% of the handle are on Alabama as 20.5-point road favorites.
For the public, this will be the first time in over a decade seeing Alabama play in this spot.
In Nick Saban’s first season at Alabama in 2007, the Tide lost a non-conference road game against Florida State, 21-14, as 2.5-point underdogs.
In 2008, 2010 and 2011, Alabama played three more non-conference road games. The Tide went 3-0 SU/ATS.
This week in Austin against Texas, Alabama will play its first non-conference road game since Sept. 10, 2011.
