The Alabama Crimson Tide inspires no excitement across the College Football world in the year 2026. At best, Bama is being tabbed as a top-five or top-six school in the SEC for the upcoming campaign, and with so much roster turnover, Kalen DeBoer and Co. aren't building something sustainable. Meanwhile, another batch of Nick Saban's recruits, including his quarterback, Ty Simpson, is NFL draft-bound. Things aren't trending in the right direction for the Tide.
USA Today's Matt Hayes drove that point home with a message proclaiming the Big Ten's recent greatness -- which includes the Indiana Hoosiers destroying Alabama 38-3 in the 2026 Rose Bowl before winning the CFP title game in January, and the Michigan Wolverines retiring Saban in 2024 with an overtime Rose Bowl victory.
Hayes dug the knife in Bama's back deeper by calling the Tide "suddenly stale" in the SEC picture.
"Michigan officially sent Nick Saban packing a couple of years ago, and Indiana sent everyone home — including that suddenly stale program in Tuscaloosa, by 35 points," Hayes wrote.
Kalen DeBoer's Alabama Crimson Tide is at the edge of the abyss in 2026
2026 could be the year Alabama's era of dominance is so over that the Auburn Tigers are the rulers of the Yellowhammer State. The Crimson Tide are clinging to being able to beat their Iron Bowl rival, the Georgia Bulldogs, the Tennessee Volunteers, and the LSU Tigers in recent years.
Those games are far from guaranteed wins this fall for DeBoer and Co. Especially LSU and Georgia. No loss would sting more than Auburn, though.
And yet, that's a distinct possibility. DeBoer doesn't yet know who he's turning to with the offense, with Austin Mack and Keelon Russell both in the mix, in what could fairly be described as a two-QBs-means-you-have-none situation in Tuscaloosa until further notice. The offensive line, though, has not been corrected. DeBoer may continue to accept losses in the trenches, which is the opposite of what defined Saban's program.
In the NIL/under-the-table rev-share era, even Saban's Tide wasn't a match for the Big Ten's best. At least Alabama wasn't being embarrassed in bowl games like they are under DeBoer, though.