There are issues that remain, but following a Week 6 home victory over No. 16 Vanderbilt, it's safe to say that Kalen DeBoer and Alabama have sufficiently turned the corner from a disappointing season-opening loss to Florida State.
After a fourth straight win, including back-to-back over ranked SEC foes, Alabama is right back where they started the season: No. 8 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
It's a stark reminder in college football that one loss, even in the 12-team playoff era, can be incredibly damaging, and it takes multiple good performances to overshadow it. You can't erase the performance in Tallahassee, but it's becoming a mere footnote for Alabama's 2025 season.
The number in the loss column serves as an ardent reminder of what can happen when Alabama doesn't play up to its capability, but the bigger the math is between the win and loss columns, the better.
DeBoer's team has answered two major questions two weeks in a row. First, it was the ability to withstand adversity and win on the road, which the Crimson Tide did by knocking off Georgia 24-21. Next, it was the ability to handle prosperity, which it did by beating Vanderbilt 30-14 in Bryant-Denny on Saturday.
Alabama moves up three spots to No. 8 in the AP Poll
The full AP Poll is below:
BREAKING: College Football AP Poll🚨https://t.co/bfhxEXhVCW pic.twitter.com/4ozXe7esE9
— On3 (@On3sports) October 5, 2025
With Penn State and Texas both losing - and falling completely out of the Top 25 - Alabama is now the highest-ranked one-loss team in the country. They are the fourth-highest-ranked SEC Team, behind Ole Miss (No. 4), Texas A&M (No. 5), and Oklahoma (No. 6).
Alabama and Miami are the only teams that now have multiple wins over Top 25 teams. Based on current rankings, there's not a more impressive win this season than the Crimson Tide's road win over Georgia in Athens.
Alabama's schedule remains brutal down the stretch. After back-to-back ranked opponents, Alabama will play a third this week (No. 14 Missouri), and a fourth the week after that (No. 12 Tennessee).
After a road trip to South Carolina and a bye week, Alabama will host No. 11 LSU and No. 6 Oklahoma in back-to-back weeks before FCS Eastern Illinois and then finishing up with Auburn on the road.
The schedule probably makes it next-to-impossible for Alabama to run the table the rest of the way, but the Crimson Tide seems to be getting better every week, which is about all you can ask for.