SEC Championship Game
Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA
Kickoff: Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET
Line: Alabama -14.5, Total: 48.5

No. 1 Alabama will look to win its second SEC Championship in three years when it takes on No. 16 Missouri this Saturday in Atlanta.

Missouri has quietly had a great season within the SEC with its one conference loss coming against Georgia by a score of 34-0 as 3-point underdogs back on Oct. 11. Since that defeat, the Tigers have won six consecutive games SU (5-1 ATS) by an average of 11.8 PPG. They were underdogs in each of their past three games, including being 2-point 'dogs in their final contest of the season where they took a 21-14 victory at home against Arkansas while outgaining their opponent 423 to 288. The Crimson Tide are only 4-7-1 ATS, but had another near-flawless campaign with their one SU loss coming against Ole Miss on Oct. 4 by a score of 23-17 as 4-point favorites. Since that defeat, they have ripped off seven straight wins (3-4 ATS). Alabama put together a valiant effort in its final showing of the year against Auburn, defeating the rival Tigers 55-44 as 10-point favorites at home. Auburn actually outgained the Crimson Tide 628 to 539 in the game, but 'Bama outscored the Tigers 21-7 in the final quarter. These two programs last played in 2012 when Alabama laid a whooping on Missouri by a score of 42-10 as 21-point favorites on the road. The Crimson Tide put up 533 yards in the victory while holding their opponent to a meager 129 yards of offense, including just three yards on 28 rushing attempts. Trends show that the Tigers are 9-1 ATS (90%) after having won six or seven of their previous eight games in the past two seasons while Alabama is 44-24 ATS (65%) in road games after two or more consecutive SU wins since 1992. On the injury front, HB Russell Hansbrough (ankle) was injured in the last game for Missouri, but is probable moving forward. QB Blake Sims (ankle) is also listed as probable for this one on the Crimson Tide side of the ball.

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Missouri’s offense hasn’t been all that great in 2014, putting up 28.6 PPG (70th in FBS) behind 189.9 passing YPG (100th in nation) and 176.0 rushing YPG (57th in FBS). QB Maty Mauk (2,279 pass yards, 22 TD, 11 INT) was great over the final five games of the regular season, averaging 210.4 YPG while throwing 8 TD and just 2 INT. It will be important that they get HB Russell Hansbrough (949 rush yards, 9 TD) back in the fold, as he has averaged 5.4 YPC on the year and has gone over the 100-yard mark three times. If for some reason he is slowed by his ankle injury, they do have a legitimate backup in HB Marcus Murphy (747 rush yards, 4 TD) who has three touchdowns in the past two games and has been a viable option in the receiving game with 185 yards on 25 catches (7.4 avg) and a touchdown. WR Bud Sasser (904 rec yards, 9 TD) has scored five touchdowns in the past five games while hitting the century mark in receiving yards three times, as WR Jimmie Hunt (529 rec yards, 7 TD) has been impressive also. What has gotten the Tigers this far is their defense, which has allowed a mere 19.7 PPG (13th in nation) on the season and have given up 16.5 PPG over the six-game winning streak to end the season. LBs Kentrell Brothers (103 tackles, 5 TFL) and Michael Scherer (100 tackles, 3 TFL) have paired with DLs Shane Ray (12 sacks, 59 tackles) and Markus Golden (8.5 sacks, 62 tackles) to create a tough task for any opposing offense.

Alabama has done well once again with a balanced offense that has tallied 282.6 YPG through the air (22nd in FBS) and 206.8 YPG on the ground (37th in nation) while scoring 36.7 PPG (20th in FBS). QB Blake Sims (2,988 pass yards, 24 TD, 7 INT) had just four picks all year long until last game when he tossed three interceptions, but still threw for 312 yards and 4 TD. He’s contributed quite a bit to the run game this year as well, gaining 302 yards on 64 attempts (4.7 YPC) while getting into the end zone six times. HB T.J. Yeldon (885 rush yards, 8 TD) has added 180 receiving yards (12.0 avg) with a touchdown this season, and is coming off a nice performance (127 rush yards, 2 TD) against Auburn as well. Backup HB Derrick Henry (754 rush yards, 8 TD) would start on most teams and has at least one touchdown in each of the past three games while averaging 5.4 YPC on the year. WR Amari Cooper (1,573 rec yards, 14 TD) has been nearly unstoppable all year long and is coming off his best performance of the season in which he gained 224 receiving yards and three touchdowns against Auburn. He has now gone over 200 receiving yards three times, and over 100 yards another four times while averaging 15.3 yards per catch. The defense has been equally impressive as the offense, while allowing just 16.9 PPG (6th in FBS) with the 44 points the Tigers scored last week being the highest total of the year. LBs Xzavier Dickson (8 sacks, 35 tackles), Trey DePriest (77 tackles) and Reggie Ragland (84 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 1 INT) will need to continue playing at a high level in order to grab another SEC Championship for the program.