Unfortunately, CBS Sports' Brad Crawford made a great point about the Alabama Crimson Tide's 2026 schedule: many of their key can't-lose matchups come within the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium. That includes the Iron Bowl, their early-season non-conference Power 4 matchup against the Florida State Seminoles, a measuring-stick matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs that's now seemingly a fixture on their schedule, and a matchup against the veteran-laden Texas A&M Aggies.
Crawford called the October 10 matchup against UGA in Tuscaloosa the No. 7 toughest environment of the 2026 College Football season, and stressed that this may be the first time the Tide are challenged all season.
"Florida State. Georgia. Texas A&M. Auburn. This 2026 schedule is an Alabama enthusiast's home schedule dream as long as the Crimson Tide improves where necessary this fall. Alabama will be a betting favorite in each of its first five games next season, prior to this SEC contest of great magnitude, which will determine the early pecking order in the league. Alabama has won 10 of its last 12 against Georgia dating back to 2008, including two matchups in Tuscaloosa. However, the Bulldogs throttled the Crimson Tide in last year's SEC title game, which brought back some of the jeers associated with Kalen DeBoer's early tenure. Fans from both sides will be ready for what will be an all-out war of a rematch in October," Crawford wrote.
Alabama probably has to beat these four teams to make CFP with Tennessee and LSU games on the road
While we know the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will forgive three losses to squeeze Alabama into the field, we only know that to be true if one of the losses is in the SEC Championship Game. Even if it was a 28-7 throttling.
The Crimson Tide has two rivalry matchups on the road against the Tennessee Volunteers on Rocky Top and the LSU Tigers in Death Valley. More likely than not, Alabama is going to have to run the table against Florida State, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Auburn to make the CFP. Kalen DeBoer didn't instill toughness in his trenches, which means they will have to execute nearly perfectly in overly hostile environments. There was a reason Nick Saban's men got up for the Third Saturday in October, and you don't hear much of the same sentiment in DeBoer's locker room.
We'll see if this "home schedule dream" becomes DeBoer's biggest nightmare. He didn't build the offensive trenches, and he still doesn't know who his signal-caller is. There's more certainty on the Plains, in Byrum Brown, and DJ Durkin's defense, in College Station, Texas, with Marcel Reed back in tow and the Aggies' defense being under Mike Elko's watch, and in Athens, Georgia, where Gunner Stockton is back, and Kirby Smart continues to run the hardest-nosed defensive show in College Football.