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It’s the last week of the college football regular season, which means it’s time for one very important thing: The Iron Bowl. Not only does the winner of the Alabama vs Auburn earn one year’s worth of very-important bragging rights, but this year’s version serves as an SEC semifinal, with the winner booking a spot in the SEC Championship against Georgia.
Kickoff for one of sports’ biggest rivalries is scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on CBS. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch the game online, on your phone or on another streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services. They cost a monthly fee but all come with a free trial, so you can watch today’s game at no cost. Just follow the links to sign up and be watching for free within a couple minutes:
CBS All Access: This service lets you watch a live stream of your local CBS channel (most markets included) for $5.99 per month. It comes with a free 7-day trial, and you can watch on your computer via the CBS website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the CBS app
FuboTV: CBS (live in at least 20 markets) is included in the “Fubo Premier” channel package, which gives you access to 70-plus channels and costs $19.99 per month for the first two months and $39.99 per month after that. It also comes with a free 7-day trial, and you can watch on your computer via the Fubo website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app
Preview
The Iron Bowl will decide the SEC West winner for the first time since 2013, and some of you may happen to recall the events of that particular moment in history:
It would be greedy to ask for another game on that level, but with Alabama sitting at No. 1 and Auburn at No. 6, there is still a very good chance this one turns into an instant classic itself. Alabama opened as seven-point favorites, though the Crimson Tide are 0-6 in games at Jordan-Hare Stadium during years that Auburn won at least nine games, so don’t be surprised if the final score is much closer.
Ultimately, as often is the case during these games, it’s likely to be won in the trenches. Alabama ranks sixth in the nation in yards per carry (6.0) and second in opponent yards per carry (2.7), while Auburn is 18th (5.3) and 10th (3.2) in the same stats.
Though Alabama boasts the advantage in overall numbers, it’s worth noting that the Crimson Tide have yet to play a team that dominates the line of scrimmage quite like Auburn, who are just two weeks removed from dismantling then No. 1 Georgia and limiting arguably the best RB duo in the nation–Nick Chubb and Sony Michel–to 48 yards on 20 carries. When it comes down to it, these are two of the best front sevens in the country, and two of the best O-lines in the country. It’s going to be an absolutely fascinating to see who can control the line of scrimmage.
And as if the matchup wasn’t already good enough, and the rivalry not already heated enough, the division and playoff implications are massive. We know the winner will go the SEC championship, but there’s plenty more at stake. If Alabama wins, the Crimson Tide’s odds of making the playoffs move to 84 percent, per FiveThirtyEight. And if Auburn wins, they have a 52 percent chance of making the Final 4, while Alabama’s odds drop all the way to 42 percent. And, oh yeah, the winner of this game has gone to the national championship seven of the last eight years.
“As a coach, it’s always a big game,” Nick Saban said. “It always means a lot. Everybody knows what’s at stake.”