Let’s gaze into the future of late July 2024 and ponder what that fall’s season will bring for the Alabama Crimson Tide and college football.
The Alabama Crimson Tide season is finally, and now rapidly approaching. Soon there will be no time for idle flights of fancy. Alabama football fans have experienced the greatest 10-year period in Crimson Tide history. Let’s fast forward another half decade and predict what will transpire leading up to the 2024 season.
Right up front, count on Nick Saban still being the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. If Nick ever chooses to walk away, we suspect it will not be before the 2028 season.
What about other coaches? Dabo will still be going strong at Clemson. More on that below. In the SEC West, Matt Luke, Chad Morris and Ed Orgeron will be gone. When the Alabama Crimson Tide heads to the Plains in November, not only will Gus be gone and forgotten, his replacement will be gone.
Jimbo Fisher will be doing well in College Station but the Aggies will not have won a national championship. Jeremy Pruitt will be entrenched in Knoxville, benefitting from Phil Fulmer being forced to step down because of improprieties. In Athens, the heat will be heavy for Kirby Smart. Just two SEC championships (and no national championships) in nine seasons will not be enough for the Bulldogs.
The five national championships (2019-2023) will have solidified the Clemson Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide as the most hated programs in CFB history. Between them, the two programs will win three of the five national championships.
Despite a two-year effort to placate the bowls and move the CFB Playoff field beyond four teams starting in 2025, there will be no change in that season. The following season will change college football forever.
In 2026, the CFB Playoff Selection Committee will have no relationships with bowl games. After protracted and heated debate, the more sensible approach of a six-team field will be rejected for an eight-team Playoff. The current Power Five conferences will all retain their championship games.
Two weeks after those championship games, the first round of the Playoffs will take place on the home fields of the top four seeded teams.
Nick Saban will still be saying Power Five teams should only play Power Five teams. Very few other coaches will support such a change. However, FBS schools will no longer be allowed to schedule games with FCS opponents.
In the late summer of 2024, Nick Saban will also still be saying his returning, starting quarterback needs to take what the defense gives him.
There will be no dispute Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach of all-time. But the years and the miles will be starting to take a toll. He will still awake every morning, ready to pursue the unattainable goal of perfection.
Only he and Miss Terry will know when it will end. The more the time draws near, the more Nick will relish every minute.
Will the things predicted transpire? No one can know. Crystal balls are sideshow gimmicks. As the five years play out, Alabama crimson Tide fans should make sure to enjoy the ride.