On Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, became the first team in SEC history to win four straight games against four ranked teams with no bye week mixed in, beating No. 11 Tennessee 37-20. The sixth-ranked Crimson Tide are now 6-1 overall, 4-0 in conference play, and might be making a case as a national championship favorite.
Alabama tripped up in Week 1, with Ty Simpson still adjusting to the speed of college football, and that loss to Florida State is looking worse with every passing Seminoles loss. Still, as all the other top teams in the country continue to trip up in conference play – Miami and Texas Tech are the latest victims of upset losses – Kalen DeBoer’s team keeps climbing up the list of national championship favorites.
The Tide keep collecting impressive conference wins, besting Missouri on the road last week, taking down Vanderbilt at Bryant-Denny in Week 6, and opening SEC play with a 24-21 win over Georgia. Forget the Week 1 loss; there may not be a team in the country with as many big-time wins on its resume.
Alabama has more than atoned for its Week 1 loss and should rise to No. 3
Now that the SEC has expanded to 16 teams, and other Power 4 leagues are up to 18 teams, conference schedules are bound to be unbalanced. Ole Miss, for example, lucked out with Kentucky, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi State on its schedule this year. Alabama didn’t get so fortunate. Currently, six of the Tide’s eight SEC opponents in 2025 are ranked in the AP Top 25.
The expansion, to add Texas and Oklahoma, has also made the SEC even more competitive. So, there are more opportunities for wins over ranked opponents, especially consecutively.
Still, Alabama has navigated its brutal stretch of games and quickly risen to the top in DeBoer’s second season at the helm. Following the win over Tennessee, the Crimson Tide moved to +130 to win the SEC in the FanDuel Sportsbook, the clear favorite. Texas A&M, still unbeaten in conference play, is +360 as of Saturday night.
Ohio State and Indiana have been the two most dominant teams in the country this season, and will be No. 1 and No. 2 in the upcoming AP Poll. With Miami’s loss to Louisville on Friday night, though, there is a spot available as the No. 3 team, one that the Crimson Tide have a great case to fill.
No. 5 Ole Miss fell to Georgia in Athens in Week 8, so the Rebels will slide behind the Crimson Tide. No. 4 Texas A&M could be tough to jump, because the Aggies are still undefeated, but Arkansas, which fired Sam Pittman two weeks ago, pushed Mike Elko’s team to the brink in Fayetteville, so the voters could swing toward the Tide.