Alabama is a rare underdog at home against Georgia, but the tide is turning

Alabama begins the week as a rare underdog in Saturday's SEC showdown in Tuscaloosa against Georgia.

The Crimson Tide were considered 2-point underdogs behind the Bulldogs by sportsbooks on Monday, but the line has now shifted toward Alabama.

The Crimson Tide have been favorites in 90 consecutive home games against LSU since 2007 and have not been underdogs in a regular season game against Georgia since 2015. Unless there are significant changes to the roster, both of their winning streaks will end against the Bulldogs.

Georgia was favored by 4.5 points in the first point differential of the summer as bookmakers tried to estimate a drop in performance for Alabama following the departure of coach Nick Saban. But bookmakers say the Crimson Tide have been the more impressive team this season.

In July, Chris Andrews, a veteran Las Vegas bookmaker at South Point, started Georgia as a 4.5-point favorite over Alabama in his early picks for major college football games. His perception of the two teams has changed in the first month of the season.

“I know Georgia is good, really good. But they haven't been great; they haven't been as good as they were last year,” Andrews told ESPN, adding that he plans to offer a line favoring Alabama this week compared to rival bookies.

Several sportsbooks, including ESPN BET, had Georgia -1.5 on Monday, while the line at FanDuel and BetMGM was -2.5.