What you need to know
We’re not sure if Alabama or any other college football team will play a full schedule this season, but for the sake of today’s article, let’s assume they do. The Crimson Tide is coming off its first two-loss regular season since 2010 and will be looking to return to the College Football Playoff after missing it for the first time last year.
Alabama is set to open its season against Southern California in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 5. The Crimson Tide will then hold its home opener against Georgia State before welcoming the Georgia Bulldogs into Bryant-Denny Stadium for its SEC opener.
After a non-conference home game against Kent State, Alabama returns to SEC play with back-to-back road games at Ole Miss and Arkansas. From there, the Tide will host Mississippi State and travel to Tennessee followed by a bye week leading up to a much-anticipated game at LSU.
The trip to Baton Rouge, La., is part of a brutal month of November as Alabama hosts FCS foe UT Martin before ending its regular-season slate with home games against Texas A&M and Auburn.
Alabama is favored in all 12 of its games, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Today we rank the Crimson Tide’s upcoming schedule from easiest to toughest.
12) UT Martin
Let’s not waste too many words here. Alabama isn’t going to lose to an FCS school. This game will be more about coming off of an emotional contest against LSU the week before. It’s also a good time for the Crimson Tide to get younger players some reps while resting its starters for back-to-back tests against Texas A&M and Auburn. Just don’t tell that to Nick Saban.
11) Kent State
Saban’s alma mater is coming off a roller-coaster season last year. Kent State was 3-6 heading into a Nov. 14 game against Buffalo and trailed the Bulls, 27-6, with less than eight minutes remaining. Not only did the Golden Flashes rally back for 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, they went on to win their next three games as well, including a victory over Jordan Love's Utah State in the Frisco Bowl.
Kent State will likely be facing an even bigger fourth-quarter deficit against Alabama this season. Don’t expect the same heroics.
10) Georgia State
Georgia State almost made it to No. 9 on this list. After all, with their 38-30 victory at Tennessee last season, the Panthers have won an SEC game more recently than Arkansas. Georgia State will have to replace starting quarterback Dan Ellignton and starting running back Tra Bennet, a duo that combined for 4,568 yards of total offense and 40 total touchdowns. Even with those two, the Panthers wouldn’t have stood much of a chance against a vastly superior Crimson Tide team.
9) at Arkansas
Arkansas has lost its last 19 SEC games. If not for a late field goal in a 38-37 victory over Ole Miss in 2017, that streak would be at 25. Alabama has outscored Arkansas 203-77 in the last four meetings between the two schools. The Crimson Tide also holds a 13-game winning streak against the Razorbacks and has never lost to them under Saban. First-year Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman will look to bring more success to Fayetteville, but the Hogs are still a long way off from competing with Alabama.
8) Mississippi State
Alabama’s wins against Mississippi State are generally a bit uglier than they are supposed to be. It will be interesting to see how the series plays out now that it is moved up in the year. Instead of playing Mississippi State the week following LSU, the Crimson Tide will face the Bulldogs in Week 7 following its game against Arkansas. First-year Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach should also bring a new wrinkle to the rivalry. Still, the Bulldogs will likely be leaving Bryant-Denny Stadium with a 13th straight loss to the Crimson Tide.
7) at Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin received his fair share of “ass chewings” while working under Saban as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16. Now he’ll get the opportunity to be a pain in the Crimson Tide’s backside on a yearly basis. Ole Miss returns a promising young quarterback in John Rhys Plumlee as well as its top back in Jerrion Ealy and its top receiver in Elijah Moore. Those weapons should help Kiffin make waves in his first year with the Rebels. However, taking down the Tide might be a bit too far.
6) at Tennessee
Jeremy Pruitt appears to be building something nice in Tennessee. Over the past five days, the Volunteers have received commitments from a quartet of four-stars in linebacker Terrence Lewis, receiver Julian Nixon, defensive back Kamar Wilcoxson and edge rusher Dylan Brooks. Tennessee is also riding a six-game winning streak since losing to Alabama last year. However, the Volunteers have questions at quarterback and have lost their last 13 games to the Crimson Tide. Progress only goes so far.
5) Southern California (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas)
Alabama opened up against Southern California in AT&T Stadium in 2016, handing the Trojans a humiliating 52-6 defeat. This year’s matchup figures to be a little more competitive. The Trojans’ offense is led by quarterback Kedon Slovis, who passed for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns with nine interceptions during his freshman season last year. USC also returns the majority of its leading tacklers on defense and should show improvement from the unit that allowed 29.4 points per game last season.
4) Auburn
The Iron Bowl at No. 4? While the game against Auburn can never be taken lightly, the Tigers have yet to record back-to-back wins over Saban’s Alabama and haven’t beaten the Tide inside Bryant-Denny Stadium since Cam Newton’s epic comeback in 2010. Reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Bo Nix should be improved in his second season behind center. However, without standout defensive linemen Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson, the Tigers will have a tough time slowing down the Crimson Tide’s high-powered attack.
3) Texas A&M
This game will be difficult for multiple reasons, the first being that the Aggies should be much improved this season. Texas A&M returns one of the better quarterbacks in the conference in Kellen Mond as well as its leading rusher, Isaiah Spiller, and its leading receiver Jhamon Ausbon. The defense also returns most of its key players, including its four leading tacklers. The other challenging aspect of this game is that it falls right before Auburn. Generally, Alabama has played an FCS team at this point in the season. This year’s matchup against Texas A&M has trap game written all over it.
2) at LSU
LSU saw an SEC record 14 players selected in last week’s NFL draft. The Tigers are losing plenty of talent, including five first-rounders in Heisman quarterback Joe Burrow, running back Clyde Edward-Helaire, wide receiver Justin Jefferson and linebackers K'Lavon Chaisson and Patrick Queen. Still, the Bayou Bengals will have plenty of talent returning, including Biletnikoff winner Ja’Marr Chase and promising quarterback Myles Brennan. After losing a shootout to LSU inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium last year, Alabama should have its trip to Baton Rouge, La., circled on the calendar.
1) Georgia
Alabama’s last two meetings against Georgia have been classics, and this one should be no different. The Bulldogs return eight starters to a defense that was already the best in the SEC. That should prove as a challenging Week 3 test for either Mac Jones or Bryce Young at quarterback as the Crimson Tide looks to move on with life after Tua Tagovailoa. Georgia will also see a new quarterback behind center as it brings in Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman. This game might not light up the scoreboard, but it should offer plenty of excitement.
