Alabama already has beaten division foes Texas A&M and Ole Miss, getting the team that much closer to another SEC West title. The Crimson Tide have a bit of a breather in the form of a three-game stretch of league games that begins with this road trip to Kentucky and ends with home games against Arkansas and Tennessee. The Crimson Tide should still be undefeated heading into a November showdown with LSU.
How to watch Alabama vs. Kentucky 2013: Preview, TV schedule, odds and more
Alabama and Kentucky meet Saturday, and here’s the information you need to follow the game.
Kevin C. Cox
Kentucky struggles continue, not surprisingly. The Wildcats have dropped three in a row and haven’t won a game in a month. That is highly unlikely to change this weekend.
Tide linebacker Denzel Devall is expected to play despite a knee injury.
The numbers
Rankings and records: Alabama comes in at 5-0 (2-0) and ranks first in both major polls. The unranked Wildcats are 1-4 (0-2). The Crimson Tide are 35-2-1 all-time against the Wildcats.
Vegas: Alabama is a 27.5-point favorite, and the over/under opened at 52.5.
Weather: The high in Lexington is expected to reach 78, and there’s no rain in the forecast.
Three names to know
A.J. McCarron -- McCarron is once again efficiently managing Alabama's offense, though he has already matched his interception total from a year ago (three). He is completing more than 71 percent of his pass attempts, and he has connected on 10 touchdown passes.
Avery Williamson -- He is the second-leading tackler in the SEC with 51, and he's going to have to have a huge, huge day in order to help the Wildcats' defense stall the Crimson Tide. Williamson hasn't had fewer than six tackles in a game this year.
T.J. Yeldon -- The Tide's leading rusher has two 100+-yard rushing games to his credit so far this season, and he is on pace for his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.
Two things at stake
Alabama is a frontrunner for the national championship and a loss to a team as bad as Kentucky would be devastating in that regard. Not that a setback here is a particularly realistic scenario. The Tide has a leg up on everybody else in the SEC West -- they are the only team in the division without a conference loss. That means the division is still salvageable with a defeat at Kentucky’s hands, at least.
Kentucky’s season would be made with an upset over Alabama because there aren’t a lot of big-picture goals in reach for the Wildcats after their 1-4 start. And that’s okay. It’s Mark Stoops’ first year at the helm, and nobody was expecting a breakthrough right off the bat.
How to witness
TV: ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET
Online streaming: WatchESPN. Comcast XFINITY subscribers can watch the game here.
Further reading
For additional coverage, be sure to visit Alabama blog Roll ‘Bama Roll and Kentucky blog A Sea Of Blue.
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