Michigan Wolverines, Kalen DeBoer isn't coming. Indiana Hoosiers, DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide are coming for you in the Rose Bowl, and they're riding high off a comeback 34-24 road win against the Oklahoma Sooners in the College Football Playoff's first round.
The No. 9 Tide were down 17 points in the first half in Norman and looked destined for DeBoer bolting Tuscaloosa for Ann Arbor shortly after the final whistle. Once Alabama got the ball in the second quarter after an Isaiah Sategna touchdown reception from John Mateer with 10:51 remaining, they were a different team and never looked back.
USA Today's Matt Hayes made it clear that the narrative has changed for DeBoer's program. Him leaving is less of a possibility on the minds of Crimson Tide fans than the idea of him leaving for Michigan anymore.
"From DeBoer on the verge of a long offseason in Tuscaloosa, or a short tenure as the Alabama coach and a new address in Ann Arbor, to the coach whose team finally found itself 14 games into the season," Hayes prefaced before saying, "Whose team is now a legitimate threat to No. 1 Indiana, and the rest of the CFP field.
"Somehow, some way, Alabama avoided what seemed like an inevitable split with DeBoer 25 minutes into a crossroads game. And is suddenly playing its best ball.
"Alabama has its man after all. For now, anyway."
Kalen DeBoer isn't out of the woods yet at Alabama
Had Nick Saban been around for a 12-team CFP, he surely wouldn't have accepted his team not getting a first-round bye. Had the Tide still had a "Bama Standard" worth respecting, they still wouldn't have played their first CFP yet. They'd be in the top four.
They got past Oklahoma, which looked a lot worse after beating the Auburn Tigers 24-17 in September, but having Mateer break his hand during the loss. The Sooners seemed to show too much of their hand in a 23-21 win over the Crimson Tide in November.
Will they be the team to finally stop Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and the undefeated Hoosiers? If not, and if IU can put on the kind of multiple-score beatdown on Alabama they put on many of their opponents in 2026, the DeBoer rumors will kick back up if there's still not a new Wolverines head coach by the time the portal opens on January 2.
Interestingly enough, Alabama plays Indiana on January 1.