The third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1) and Auburn Tigers (6-5) face off Saturday in their annual Iron Bowl rivalry matchup in the SEC on CBS, and the Tide can't afford to slip up. Alabama is the defending national champion and is looking to make the College Football Playoff for the seventh time in eight years.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. The Crimson Tide are 20.5-point favorites in the latest Alabama vs. Auburn odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the Over-Under for total points scored is 57. (See up-to-date odds for every game this week on SportsLine's college football odds page.)

Before you make any Alabama vs. Auburn picks or any other college predictions, you NEED to see which side college football expert Tom Fornelli is on. 

The CBS national writer has been profitable across multiple sports, but his specialty is college football. He has had a particularly keen eye for the tendencies of Alabama, going 9-4 on his last 13 picks (+460) involving the Crimson Tide. Anyone who has followed him is WAY UP.

The Tide have one of the nation's top offenses, ranking second in scoring at 44.4 points per game. Quarterback Bryce Young is a top Heisman Trophy candidate with 3,584 yards, 38 TD passes and just three interceptions. Jameson Williams has 1,206 receiving yards, averaging 20.6 yards per catch, and has scored 13 times. Fellow wideout John Metchie (895 yards, seven TDs) is as steady as they come. The defense is allowing less than 20 points per game and has 17 takeaways.        

Auburn will be led by former LSU starter T.J. Finley, who takes over for longtime starting QB Bo Nix. Finley threw for 188 yards last week, with 111 of those going to receiver Shedrick Jackson. The Tigers turned to Tank Bigsby, who ran for 164 yards and a score to give him 940 yards rushing and 10 TDs this season. The Auburn defense, which allows 22 points per game, will get after Young, who has been sacked 26 times. Ends Derick Hall and Eku Leota have six sacks apiece.

Now, Fornelli has locked in a confident against-the-spread pick for Alabama vs. Auburn. We can tell you he's leaning Over on the total, but he knows a crucial X-factor makes one side of the spread a MUST-BACK! You ABSOLUTELY need to see what it is before locking in any picks of your own.

Who wins Alabama vs. Auburn in Saturday's Iron Bowl? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the Auburn vs. Alabama spread you should be all over Saturday, all from the Alabama expert on a 9-4 run on college football picks involving the Crimson Tide!