Alabama Football: Tough contests yes, but does Tide have trap games?

Daily searches for worthwhile information don’t normally lead to reading through suggestions of an Alabama Football or Nick Saban’s demise. But when I saw Will 2023 Crimson Tide be the last of the Nick Saban era?– I had to take a look. It turned out to be a good read, fairly offering a premise I disagree with, but worth the time.

A small part of it particularly grabbed my attention. That part was considering trap games for the 2023 Alabama Crimson Tide. First, assessing a trap game, far in advance of a season is a tricky proposition. But like early betting odds, looking at what quirky situation might lead to a trap game for the Crimson Tide can be interesting.

Some context is needed. In Alabama’s 12 regular season games there are three games that will be neither trap nor tough. They are the opener against MTSU, the third week away game with USF and the November ‘practice’ game with Chattanooga.

Then there are three games that I define as legitimately tough games. They are week two, with Texas in Tuscaloosa, Tennessee with Alabama playing for the eighth consecutive week, and the LSU game.

Alabama Football and Potential Trap Games

That leaves six games to consider as potential traps. Two of them qualify as games when a favored Crimson Tide, not playing its best, could make enough mistakes to lose to a competent foe. History could be repeated in College Station, with a Crimson Tide that will be much better than the Aggies, finding a way to lose. Or it could happen earlier in the season when Lane Kiffin brings Ole Miss to T-Town.

That leaves four more games when Alabama can be expected to win by at least double-digits and in one case, more like three or four touchdowns. The one case is at Auburn. No amount of Jordan-Hare voodoo can conjure a win for Auburn. Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn team will be no talent match for the Crimson Tide.

The other three games, with at least double-digit wins, should be at Mississippi State, Arkansas in Tuscaloosa, and at Kentucky.

Make no mistake, there are good reasons to expect the Crimson Tide to win all the tough games and the trap games and cruise in the others for an undefeated regular season. Not that a six-months out, prediction is of much value, but mine is Alabama will go 12-0. Admittedly, my offseason prediction for the Crimson Tide is always undefeated, despite knowing how rare those seasons are.

It should be added, Alabama has a higher potential number of trap games than most teams. Alabama is still the standard all other teams are measured by.

And about the early odds for a couple of Alabama football games; the Crimson Tide, according to FanDuel, is an 8-point favorite against Texas and a 7.5-point favorite against LSU.