POLL: Is Alabama Being a 24 Point Favorite Against MSU Warranted?

When the odds for the Mississippi State at Alabama game came out on Sunday at Alabama (-24), there was no lack of debate on twitter, message boards, etc. about it. I'm not a betting man myself, but I pay attention to lines on Alabama games and my first though was, "Bet the house on Mississippi State." That was the initial reaction of a lot of folks I interacted with on Sunday, but then I got to thinking about it. Alabama's 7-0, they're winning their games by an average margin of 33.3 points. They've only won one game by less than 24 points (19 point win against Ole Miss.)

It's kind of odd that seven games into the season that the two undefeated teams only share one common opponent: Tennessee. The Bulldogs and the Tide played the Volunteers in back to back weeks with Mississippi State beating them at home by 10 points and Alabama winning on the road by 31 points. That's the only real point of comparison so far. Tennessee also appears to be the best team either has played so far. As sketchily as Alabama's schedule has been viewed by some, Mississippi State's is even sketchier so far (and they've had three games decided by two scores or less.) On the one hand, it seems like madness to me that Alabama would be a 24 point favorite over the #11 team in the country, but on the other, Alabama is winning big frequently.

So, this weeks poll question is this: "Is Alabama being a 24 point favorite against Mississippi State warranted?"