Alabama vs. Vanderbilt odds, spread, lines: Week 4 college football picks, predictions by computer model

Expert picks, predictions for Alabama vs. Vanderbilt on the Week 4 college football schedule

A pair of old SEC rivals meet up as Alabama hosts Vanderbilt in both team's SEC opener in college football's Week 4 action on Saturday.

Alabama is perfect through 3 games, with a 1-point win at Texas on its record, while Vanderbilt is a surprise 3-1 with a loss against Wake its only blemish, already surpassing last season's win total.

What do the experts think of this matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.

Alabama vs. Vanderbilt odds, spread, predictions

Week 4 college football schedule: Alabama vs. Vanderbilt

The computer index doesn't foresee much issue for Alabama, which comes in with a 98.6 percent chance to defeat Vanderbilt at home this week.

Vandy has the 1.4 percent shot at upsetting the Crimson Tide.

The oddsmakers also predict an easy victory for Alabama, which comes in as 40.5 point favorites, according to SI Sportsbook, which set the over/under mark at 58.5 points for the game.

Alabama checks in at No. 2 in the computer's 131 college football rankings, a drop of 1 position behind favorite Georgia, but is projected to still win 11.9 games on the season with a 75.7 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, and a 29.0 percent shot to win it, both 2nd behind UGA.

The index holds that Bama will be 28.8 points better on average than the teams on its schedule, while Vandy will be 3.8 points worse on average.

AP top 25 voters kept the Tide put in the No. 2 position behind Georgia this week after it began the preseason as the near-consensus top team.

Vanderbilt rates as the No. 87 overall team in the index rankings, projected to win 4.4 games on the season.

College Football Power Index

Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance. 

Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.

College football rankings

According to AP top 25 poll

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Oklahoma
7. USC
8. Kentucky
9. Oklahoma State
10. Arkansas
11. Tennessee
12. NC State
13. Utah
14. Penn State
15. Oregon
16. Ole Miss
17. Baylor
18. Washington
19. BYU
20. Florida
21. Wake Forest
22. Texas
23. Texas A&M
24. Pittsburgh
25. Miami

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Facebook