Iron Bowl: Alabama vs. Auburn

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and Alabama head coach Nick Saban talk before the Iron Bowl Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

(JULIE BENNETT)

Alabama is a three-score favorite over rival Auburn for this year's Iron Bowl.

Top-ranked Alabama (11-0, 7-0 SEC) opened as a 18.5-point favorite against No. 15 Auburn (8-3, 5-2 SEC), according to VegasInsider.com, for Saturday's game at Bryant-Denny Stadium (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS).

After the line quickly moved to Alabama minus-20, it was down to minus-18 as of 4 p.m. CT Sunday. As of 11 a.m. Monday, the line is Alabama minus-17.5.

The opening point spread is almost unchanged from the 18-point spread listed by the South Point casino in Las Vegas six months ago.

Auburn is hoping to have several key players back for this week's rivalry game, including quarterback Sean White (shoulder), running back Kamryn Pettway (leg), cornerback Carlton Davis (ankle) and linebacker Tre' Williams (ankle), who were all held out of Saturday's game with Alabama A&M.

White, who was 6 of 20 for 27 yards with an interception in the loss at Georgia on Nov. 12, is said not to have passed during practice for the past three weeks.

Pettway's 1,106 yards rank second in the SEC despite missing three games and not getting a carry in the season-opener.

Alabama holds the 44-35-1 lead in the all-time series with Auburn and has won the last two Iron Bowls, four of the last five and six of the last eight. The Crimson Tide beat the Tigers 29-13 at Jordan-Hare Stadium last season and 55-44 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2014.

Alabama has already clinched its third straight SEC West title and will play Florida in the SEC Championship game for the second straight year.

Auburn is vying for bowl positioning and was the second-highest ranked SEC team in the College Football Playoff last week, making a berth in the Sugar Bowl a possibility.

Auburn has covered the spread in eight of 11 games this season, including two of its three road games.