Updated Georgia vs. Alabama Betting Odds: Nick Saban Status, Morning Sharp Action

Georgia vs. Alabama Odds

Odds as of 11 a.m. ET via PointsBet, where you can get $250 FREE instantly after signing up AND your bets automatically sync to the Action app.Learn more about BetSync here.

As recently as yesterday, it was pretty widely assumed that Nick Saban would not be on the sidelines for tonight's Georgia-Alabama SEC showdown.

The Tide head coach tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, which would theoretically make him unavailable for a Saturday night game. That is, unless the conference determines that test result to be a false positive — an outcome that's looking more and more possible as kickoff approaches.

Late Friday afternoon, the University of Alabama announced that Saban tested negative on a follow-up Thursday test. That result would leave enough time for two more negative tests 24 hours apart — the SEC requirement to determine a false positive — before Saturday's matchup.

And as just reported on College GameDay, Saban's Friday test has also come back negative. In other words, he's now one negative test away from taking his usual spot on the sideline tonight.

Following the initial negative result on Wednesday, the spread saw a pretty significant drop, going from the 6/6.5-point range down to Alabama -4.

So, now what?

Heading into Saturday morning, Bama had already ticked back up to -4.5. Around 8:45 a.m. ET, though, Sports Insights Bet Signals tracked a steam move on Alabama.

Steam refers to a heavy dose of money hitting the same side of a bet all at once, often across multiple sportsbooks, resulting in a sudden, market-wide line move. It's one of the clearest signs of sharp action.

As a result, Alabama moved immediately up to -5, and has since continued to -5.5 across the market, with 59% of bettors taking the Tide to cover the spread as of 11 a.m. ET.