Alabama still has game(s) to play in 2025, with the opening round of the College Football Playoff kicking off next Friday night in Norman against Oklahoma.
But on Thursday night, the SEC unveiled the 2026 schedules. It's a brutal slate for every team in the league. In the first year of the nine-game SEC schedules, coupled with the calendar allowing for only one bye week, everyone will face a gauntlet.
Alabama's 2026 schedule is as follows:
9/5: vs. East Carolina
9/12: at Kentucky
9/19: vs. Florida State
9/26: vs. South Carolina
10/3: at Mississippi State
10/10: vs. Georgia
10/17: at Tennessee
10/24: vs. Texas A&M
10/31: BYE WEEK
11/7: at LSU
11/14: at Vanderbilt
11/21: vs. Chattanooga
11/28: vs. Auburn
Alabama opens SEC play in Week 2 in 2026 at Kentucky, which is the earliest the Crimson Tide has played an SEC game (in non-COVID years) since 2007. That was Nick Saban's first year in Tuscaloosa, and the Crimson Tide defeated Vanderbilt on the road in his second game in charge.
The gauntlet begins during the second weekend of October, which produces a five-game stretch that will likely define the season for Kalen DeBoer's Crimson Tide.
The season-defining stretch for Alabama begins in October
After what won't be a gimmie game on the road against a Mississippi State team on the rise under Jeff Lebby, Alabama will host Georgia in Tuscaloosa on October 10th. It will then travel to Tennessee and host Texas A&M before an off week on Halloween.
The Crimson Tide will then face back-to-back road games to open November against LSU and Vanderbilt.
That five-game stretch will be season-defining. It also means Alabama can't afford an early slip-up in September. The Crimson Tide's early path is favorable. They should have little trouble against East Carolina at home or Kentucky on the road. There will be ample motivation against Florida State in Week 3 to avenge this season's road loss to the Seminoles.
Wins at home over South Carolina and in a tricky road game in Starkville should have the Tide at 5-0 before hosting Georgia. If Alabama can start 5-0 next season, they can afford to only go 3-2 during that gauntlet of a stretch and still be in prime position to make the College Football Playoff.
The SEC will cannibalize one another even more than usual next season with nine-game league schedules. A 10-2 record would be quite the accomplishment in the regular season, and would make the Crimson Tide a near-certainty to make the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive season.