Louisiana Tech
Sun Belt · 5-2
at
South Alabama
Sun Belt · 4-3
Sat 31 Oct · 3:00 PM ET · ESPN+ · Hancock Whitney Stadium
Rest LT 7 days, USA 11 days · Travel LT 292 mi
Market
LT −5.5
total 58.5 · spread opened LT −3.5, moved −2.0 toward LT
Atlas projectsAtlas
29.3–27.2
LT–USA · total 56.5
Difference
+3.5
on the spread · total −2.0
C73/100
Mixed record.

A moderate disagreement of 3.5 points.

Across five seasons, cards this far from the market claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49%. That gap is where this grade comes from.

How much weight this card's information deserves — not a recommendation.

Why

what the model is reading

Be careful about

  • One book is quoting this game, so the market number has no depth behind it and may move sharply.
  • Atlas and the market have moved opposite ways on the total since it opened.

Projection built Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETMarket updated Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETData status

New to Atlas? What a card is, and what a grade means

Market detail where the line opened, where it is now, and the prices
SpreadOpenCurrentMove
Louisiana Tech−3.5−5.5−2.0
South Alabama+3.5+5.5+2.0
Price−105−112—

The spread has moved 2.0 toward Louisiana Tech and the total has moved 2.0 up since the open.

TotalOpenCurrentMove
Game total56.558.5+2.0
Price (over)−110−108—
Moneyline · Louisiana Tech −170 → −218 Moneyline · South Alabama +142 → +180 De-vigged, the market gives South Alabama a 34.3% chance. Books quoting: 1.

DraftKings · 1 book quoting

Projection detail the projected score, the chance of winning, the total's range and the most likely exact score
Projected score
29.3 – 27.2
Louisiana Tech – South Alabama
Projected spread
LT −2.0
market −5.5
Projected total
56.5
market 58.5 · 80% range 35–79
Louisiana Tech win probability
54.0%
from the score grid
Under probability
51.7%
at the current total of 58.5
Most likely score
31–24
0.9% of the grid — one cell of 6,400
How this number is made. Every FBS team starts the season at a preseason expectation built from last season's ratings, roster talent, recruiting, returning production and the coaching situation. After every game a filter updates each team's offense and defense, opponent-adjusted, and the two teams' numbers meet here with the home advantage. The total adds the teams' pace and the wind. The market is never an input; it is shown so you can see where Atlas differs and read why.

Atlas difference

MeasureAtlas modelMarketDifference
SpreadLT −2.0LT −5.5+3.5
Total56.558.5−2.0
South Alabama win probability46.0%34.3%+11.7 pts
A difference is not an edge. Atlas has measured what happens at every size of disagreement, and the gap between what the model claims and what it delivers widens as the disagreement grows. This game sits in the 2-4 band, where cards have claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49% across 1,123 games.
Matchup how each offense compares with the defense it faces, season to date, ranked among 138 FBS teams

Season to date through 24 October: Louisiana Tech 7 games, South Alabama 7 games. Ranks are among 138 FBS teams, 1st the best; the crest marks which side ranks better on each line.

Louisiana Tech offensevs South Alabama defense
32.346th
Points per gameedge Louisiana Tech
32.4123rd
5.8980th
Yards per playedge Louisiana Tech
7.23137th
149.984th
Rushing yards per gameedge Louisiana Tech
164.496th
242.458th
Passing yards per gameedge Louisiana Tech
265.3122nd
5.142nd
20+ yard plays per gameedge Louisiana Tech
5.6131st
2.399th
Sacks per gameedge South Alabama
1.793rd
47%28th
Third-down conversion rateedge Louisiana Tech
43%112th
67%33rd
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Louisiana Tech
71%130th
South Alabama offensevs Louisiana Tech defense
35.133rd
Points per gameedge South Alabama
21.044th
6.0166th
Yards per playedge Louisiana Tech
5.3955th
220.013th
Rushing yards per gameedge South Alabama
117.436th
206.999th
Passing yards per gameedge Louisiana Tech
224.485th
4.664th
20+ yard plays per gameedge South Alabama
5.0111th
1.014th
Sacks per gameedge South Alabama
2.622nd
41%72nd
Third-down conversion rateedge South Alabama
40%83rd
58%77th
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Louisiana Tech
41%19th
Louisiana Techvs South Alabama
Situational
+0.8612th
Turnover margin per gameedge South Alabama
+1.008th
66.665th most
Plays per game
71.014th most

Figures come from completed games only, so every one was known before kickoff. They are raw, not adjusted for opponents - All drivers has Atlas's adjusted view. College counts sack yardage as rushing, as the NCAA does.

Other models what FPI, SP+ and Elo say about this game, beside Atlas and the market
ModelMarginWinAs of
FPI (ESPN)LT by 3.861%Oct 28
SP+LT by 6.4—Oct 29
EloLT by 1.4—Oct 29
AtlasLT by 2.054%live
MarketLT by 5.5—live

Each model's number for this game as its source published it before kickoff; Win is the favored side's chance to win, where the model gives one. FPI's margin and chance are ESPN's own. SP+ is the difference in the two teams' ratings, plus 2.5 for a home side; Elo is the difference in ratings at 24 points a point, plus 2.6 for a home side, as Atlas measured it on past seasons. None of these is an input to Atlas's number, and none is here to settle anything: they show where Atlas sits among other models.

How this grade was computed the four things that set the letter, out of a hundred
C73

Mixed card

The disagreement is wide enough that the model's historical claim runs well ahead of what it delivered.

Calibration 30/45
Market agreement 18/25
Card conditions 10/15
Data completeness 15/15

Atlas sits 3.5 points from the market. The calibration curve, fitted to every completed season out of sample, expects cards at that distance to fall 11.9% short of what they claim — which is where the calibration component above comes from.

The total has moved 2.0 points since it opened. Cards on a market that has moved have calibrated worse in five of six seasons.

The grade describes how much weight the information deserves. It says nothing about which side of a market anyone should take, and Atlas does not publish that. How grades are computed.

All drivers all 4 things the model is reading, and how each team ranks against the rest of the country
Defense, in points LT +9.5 pts

Atlas rates Louisiana Tech's defense at +1.5 points a game against FBS average and South Alabama's at -8.1, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

Louisiana TechSouth Alabama
Pace and possessions 117 plays · 78th percentile

A combined 117 plays per game — the 78th percentile of this season's games. A fast game, which lifts the projected total.

fewer playsmore plays
Offense, in points USA +4.6 pts

Atlas rates South Alabama's offense at +2.6 points a game against FBS average and Louisiana Tech's at -2.0, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

Louisiana TechSouth Alabama
Home advantage USA +2.6 pts

Playing at home is worth 2.6 points in this season's model, fitted, not assumed.

Louisiana TechSouth Alabama
Market movement how far the market has moved since the number opened, and which way

Total, open to current

59.0 57.5 56.0 Atlas 56.5 open 56.5 now 58.5
MeasureValue
Opening number56.5
Current number58.5
Market directionup 2.0
Atlas directiondown

Atlas and the market point opposite ways on this total. That is information, not a verdict.

Two findings that are not in conflict

Atlas has measured disagreement twice, against two different reference points, and they say different things.

Measured againstWhat it predicts
The closing numberthe model's own failure — so a large difference lowers the grade
The opening numberwhich way the line moves — tracked publicly, not graded

A model far from the close is wrong; a model far from the open is early. The second finding is tracked in the open closing-line record and is deliberately kept out of the grade.

Reliability record what Atlas claimed and what it delivered, across the seasons it never saw while being built

Calibration by disagreement band

82% 64% 45% this card0-110+ claimed realized

Two series, labeled directly. The widening gap is why Atlas grades large disagreements down.

This band, five seasons

MeasureThis bandAll cards
Realized accuracy48.6%49.2%
Claimed accuracy57.1%58.0%
Calibration gap−8.5 pts−8.8 pts
Seasons above 50%1 of 5—
Games measured1,1233,864
Read the gap, not the claim. Atlas's raw confidence numbers run high — a claimed 57% has historically delivered 49%. The grade already corrects for this. The claim is shown so the correction is visible rather than hidden.
What this card is. Research, analytics and market context. Atlas does not publish selections, does not size anything and does not project returns. Every figure is computed out of sample from a point-in-time database: nothing attached to a game uses information that did not exist before kickoff.