With the college football season finally ending Alabama fans are ready to move on. The final AP Poll for the 2024 season ranked the Alabama Crimson Tide No. 17. Reactions through social media and Alabama message boards indicate many Tide fans feel the ranking is fair for a 4-loss team.
The last time a ranked Alabama Football team finished a season lower than No. 17 was in 1995, with a No. 21 ranking. Alabama rebounded from the 8-3, 1995 record with a 10-3 record in 1996. Gene Stallings walked away after the 1996 season, but it had nothing to do with poll rankings or even football. But that is another story of current value only for showing how not to manage an Athletic Department.
Going back to the Bryant era of Alabama Football, the Crimson Tide has finished seasons unranked by the AP 11 times. The last time was Nick Saban's first season in 2007.
Alabama fans believing the No. 17 ranking is fair does not mean Crimson Tide fans are reconciled with the result. Losing four games in any season is unacceptable. Even if every-season expectations are too high, especially in a first season after Nick Saban, Alabama's standard is championships. Kalen DeBoer had to know that when he took the job.
DeBoer might survive a 4-loss season in 2025, but the fourth loss would likely have to be in the Playoffs.
What Alabama Football learned from the 2024 season
On the minds of Alabama fans, is how much Kalen DeBoer and his staff learned from the 2024 season. Unlike Nick Saban, DeBoer does not reveal much. After the bowl loss to Michigan, DeBoer said, "Every time you’re in the locker room and you have something like this, it’s disappointing, but I think there’s a lot of things that you take from it ... As long as we learn from it, then, to me, it can be a success moving forward.”
DeBoer's words provided little solace for Crimson Tide fans. Nick Saban was (is) a wordsmith. Kalen DeBoer is not. That is okay; no coach ever talked a team to a National Championship. Actions matter far more, and the results that come with them. Clues about 2025 results will come in what might feel like Alabama's longest offseason ever. Concrete results cannot be seen until Aug. 30 in Tallahassee, FL.