Alabama Football should schedule UCF and thoughts on other future games
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football: Gus Malzahn might be foolish enough to want some of Nick Saban again and if he does, the Tide should schedule UCF.
Credit to the Alabama Football duo of Nick Saban and Greg Byrne for some great future games. The Crimson Tide’s future schedules have been significantly improved by adding home and home series with Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. Though not as exciting, the additions of Arizona and Georgia Tech are far better than playing more games against USF and Southern Mississippi and even weaker teams.
A rundown of the known Crimson Tide games through 2035 is provided below, compliments of fbschedules.com. While the Crimson Tide is toughening its out-of-conference schedules, they are not as demanding as Nick Saban prefers. Saban has been a frequent proponent of a nine or ten game SEC schedule, with all out-of-conference games against Power Five teams.
Few other SEC coaches have ever voiced support for Nick’s bold idea. One who did was Gus Malzahn, who agreed with Saban about an expanded SEC schedule. For that and other reasons, Greg Byrne should immediately contact new UCF AD, Terry Mohajir and offer the Knights a chance to come to Tuscaloosa.
Gus Malzahn would probably jump at the chance. Gus was full of confidence and ambition when his new hire was introduced by UCF on Monday. Brandon Marcello, who knows Gus well, provided this Gus quote.
"We need to change the narrative. This is going to be one of the best programs in college football, in a short period of time."
Speaking about the College Football Playoff, Malzahn said,
"I truly believe we will be in the Final Four."
Malzahn specifically said he wants UCF to play top ten teams and was open to 2-for-1 deals if that is what it takes to get some elite competition. Greg Byrne would be right to disdain a traditional home and home, but a 2-for-1 or a one-off game in Tuscaloosa would be a great idea.
Malzahn did appear sincerely invigorated during the initial UCF press conference. One reason could be he knows Orlando is not filled with boosters believing they know more than their coach. Gus had to deal with just the opposite in Auburn.
Malzahn also made it clear he will be the play-caller for the Knights. Again, unlike in Auburn, that is not expected to be an issue in Orlando.
More: Gus and UCF, a good fit or not?
Future Alabama Football Out-of-Conference Schedules
- 2021 – Miami in Atlanta, and home vs. Mercer, Southern Miss and New Mexico State
- 2022 – at Texas, and home vs. Utah State, Louisiana-Monroe and Austin-Peay
- 2023 – at USF and home vs. Texas
- 2024 – at Wisconsin, and home vs. USF and Western Kentucky
- 2025 – at FSU, and home vs. Wisconsin and Louisiana-Monroe
- 2026 – at West Virginia, and home vs. USF and FSU
- 2027 – at Ohio State and home vs. West Virginia
- 2028 – at Notre Dame and home vs. Ohio State
- 2029 – Notre Dame in Tuscaloosa
- 2030 – at Georgia Tech
- 2031 – Georgia Tech in Tuscaloosa
- 2032 – at Oklahoma and home vs. Arizona
- 2033 – at Arizona and home vs. Oklahoma
- 2034 – at Virginia Tech
- 2035 – Virginia Tech (Tuscaloosa)
dark. Next. Crimson Tide a bubble team no more
Here is a suggestion for Greg Byrne. Offer UCF a one-off in Tuscaloosa in 2022. Have the Knights pay Austin Peay for what they are guaranteed and play UCF instead, for the same guarantee the Governors would earn. The big payoff for the Tide would be shutting down the nonsense claims UCF is a top program.