No college football program has the prestige of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Thanks to incredible sustained success and a penchant for sending some of the best players to the NFL, Alabama is always expected to be excellent. In 2024, they were merely good.
A 9-4 season would be fine for a normal program, but not Alabama. It was difficult to swallow in the first year of the post-Nick Saban era. In year two, Kalen DeBoer has to restore Alabama to previous heights or the Crimson Tide might have to make a change, FOX Sports analyst R.J. Young said.
"No program has more appearances (eight) or wins (nine) or national titles (three) in the CFP era than Alabama. The pressure is on Kalen DeBoer to continue that run of success. He must make the CFP in its 12-team format, or Alabama might just ask Nick Saban to return and replace the guy he handpicked," Young said.
He ranked them ninth in the country, firmly within the CFP range. They begin the season on the AP Poll within that range, but they were expected to make it last year before falling short. The Crimson Tide need to turn it around.
"Alabama has non-conference games against Florida State and Wisconsin in the first three weeks and then a balanced breakfast from Week 5 to Week 13, which includes games at Georgia, vs. Vanderbilt, at Missouri, vs. Tennessee, at South Carolina, vs. LSU and vs. Oklahoma. By then, we’ll know who's playing for what in the Iron Bowl," Young concluded. And if Alabama isn't playing for much then,