With Nick Saban Gone, Here's How Futures Bettors Are Approaching Alabama

When the 2024 college football season gets underway in about a month, the SEC is going to look drastically different. Not only have Oklahoma and Texas joined the conference, making it a 16-team league, but the sport will be missing arguably its greatest coach of all time.

Nick Saban graced the sidelines for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2007-2023. He led the Tide to a 206–29 record, winning over 87% of his games, and six national championships.

Saban announced his retirement last season, after losing to Michigan in the CFP Semifinal. It would be fair to assume that after losing its storied head coach, Alabama might be in for a down year in 2024. However, according the BetMGM insights, bettors don't think that will be the case.

Bettors are Backing Bama in 2024

Georgia opened as the favorite to win the SEC this season at +200 with Texas close behind at +300, followed by Ole Miss at +600. The Tide opened at +900, tied with LSU for the fourth shortest odds. The current odds for each of those teams have remained unchanged, except Alabama.

The Tide currently sit at +750 and are the only team in the conference to see their odds shortened since the market opened. According to data released by BetMGM, both the sharps and the public have confidence in Alabama this season. It has the highest handle in the entire conference with 39.3% of the total money and 24.3% of the total bets backing the Tide, making them BetMGM's biggest liability to win the SEC.

Here are a few reasons bettors are still optimistic when it comes to backing Bama in 2024...

Reasons for Optimism in Post-Saban Era

1. Kalen DeBoer: The former Washington head coach was chosen to lead Alabama into the post-Saban era. DeBoer led the Huskies to an appearance in the National Championship last season where his squad lost to Michigan. He might not have the same pedigree as Saban, but he does have a damn good track record. Success has followed DeBoer everywhere he's gone, which is why fans are optimistic heading into his first season with the Tide. He went 67-3 at Sioux Falls with three NAIA national titles before spending one season at Fresno State, leading the Bulldogs to a 9-3 record. His next two years were spent guiding the Huskies to a 25-3 record and a Pac-12 title. Altogether, DeBoer is 104-12 in his 8.5 years as a head coach.

2. Elite Offensive Attack: Washington has the nation's No. 1 passing attack in 2022 and ranked No. 2 behind only Oregon last season. Alabama QB Jalen Milroe made massive strides from Week 1 to the CFP semifinal last year and will thrive in DeBoer's system. He averaged 10.0 yards per throw in 2023 and has plenty of weapons to throw to with TE CJ Dippre and WRs Kendrick Law and Kobe Prentice returning. DeBoer also brought over WR Germie Bernard who had a solid campaign with Washington despite playing behind three future NFL players.

3. Schedule: The Tide has a tough schedule this season with road games at Tennessee, LSU and Oklahoma. However, there isn't a matchup that I see as a surefire loss, even with Georgia and Auburn coming to town. Not having to play Ole Miss or Texas is also a plus, especially considering the latter team beat the Tide in Tuscaloosa last year. The Longhorns and Bulldogs are Alabama's two biggest threats when it comes to winning the SEC. That said, Georgia has to go on the road and play at Texas while the Longhorns' lack of familiarity puts them at a disadvantage in their first season in the SEC.