Following a 56-7 victory over Middle Tennessee State in last week’s season opener, No. 3 Alabama will have its first real test of the season as it welcomes No. 11 Texas to Bryant-Denny Stadium tonight at 6:00 p.m. CT.

After escaping Austin, Texas with a 20-19 victory over the Longhorns last season, the Crimson Tide is a 7-point favorite in this year’s matchup. Alabama is 2-7-1 against Texas all-time but has won its last two meetings against the Longhorns.

The last time Alabama lost to its first ranked opponent of the season came during the 2014 season when the then-No. 3 ranked Crimson Tide Tide suffered a 23-17 defeat to then-No. 11 Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.

Here’s how TideIlustrated’s staff thinks this week’s matchup will play out.

Every year Texas fans think it will be the year the Longhorns return to glory. This season is no exception and given how close the game was a year ago the Horns’ faithful are expecting to pull an upset.

Bama appears to be a little more hard-nosed and a little more like a typical Nick Saban team than last year. I think Jalen Milroe will be difficult to contain and the Tide at home will be tough for the Horns to tame.

— Kelly Quinlan, publisher

We’ll see a bit more of Alabama’s red flags than we did in Week 1, but the Crimson Tide will still show it belongs in the discussion with the best teams in college football.

After a solid season opener from Jalen Milroe, Alabama will rely on a different Texas native against the Longhorns. I expect Jase McClellan to have a big game as the Tide leans on its run game to grind out a victory on the ground. The defense will give up a few big plays, but I think Alabama will win the turnover battle for the second straight week and come up with a big stop in the fourth quarter to put Texas away for good.

— Tony Tsoukalas, managing editor

Alabama’s defense runs into some early issues slowing down Texas offensively, but is able to make the necessary adjustments to send the Longhorns home with defeat. Offensively, Milroe’s ability as a dual-threat weapon leads to several chunk plays for the Crimson Tide.

— Russell Johnson, recruiting editor

I expect this game to be an all-out battle. I believe Texas will play better than they did last week. At the same time, Alabama has all the tools early on to be a dominant team this year.

I expect that both teams to go back and forth but ultimately the Alabama defense should has the strength to shut down Texas in the second half.

— Brandon Howard, recruiting writer

If this game was in Austin, I’d have Texas winning. Since it is in Tuscaloosa I’ll take Alabama in a close game.

Ewers gave Alabama fits before he got injured for the rest of the game. I think the defense is improved overall from last season in the secondary and that’ll be the key. Preventing the big play that Ewers is capable of.

Milroe showed he can be the guy, but can he be consistent with it? I think he can, but he has to be able to trust his secondary reads. Texas wasn’t impressive in their first game and Alabama looked like a machine.

I see Milroe and McClellan having good games and the defense forcing two turnovers in a big win.

— Jordan Harper, head basketball analyst

I think this one will be an absolute shootout from both teams. Assuming Milroe plays as well as he did last week and the secondary continues to lock up the wideouts, I think the Crimson Tide will have a slight edge, but not by much.

If Quinn Ewers gets out to a hot start like he did last year, Alabama could be in trouble. However, I feel certain that the film from last season has been thoroughly studied and the defense will be well-prepared to slow him down, just enough to pull off the win.

— Dean Harrell, staff writer