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Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, front center, sits with some of his players as a team picture is organized by the director of football operations, John Ballein, center left in gray shirt, during the NCAA college football team's team media day in Lane Stadium on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., Saturday, Aug. 10 2013. (AP Photo/The Roanoke Times, Matt Gentry)

-- Heading into Saturday's season opener, Virginia Tech hasn't been this big of an underdog since Alabama won the national championship.

In 1992.

, Alabama is anywhere from an 18- to 20.5-point favorite over the Hokies, who have been hit hard by

and

following a disappointing 7-6 2012 season. The lopsided spread extends an Alabama streak of being the Las Vegas favorite in every game it's played since the 2009 SEC Championship.

Virginia Tech hasn't been this big of an underdog since it faced a 19-point spread heading into its Oct. 24, 1992, matchup with Miami (Fla.). It just barely failed to cover in a 43-23 loss.

The Hokies, who been the favorite in most of their games since 1992, were 17-point underdogs against Miami in 2002 and at Southern Cal to open the 2004 season. The 2002 Miami team advanced to the BCS National Championship and 2004 Southern Cal went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country.

Alabama has never lost a season opener during the

Nick Saban

era. Virginia Tech gave Alabama its closest game during that stretch in 2009, when the Crimson Tide won 34-24.

(H/T to Covers.com for historic spread database)