Despite a newly minted No. 5 ranking in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, Alabama remains a pretty big underdog - for Alabama standards, at least - heading into this weekend's matchup in Baton Rouge against LSU.
Alabama has five starters listed as questionable on this week's availability report, but there's optimism that most, if not all, will be able to give it a go on Saturday afternoon.
One thing working in Alabama's favor this weekend, aside from the historical success in Death Valley, is Kalen DeBoer's track record of success after a bye week.
Since the start of the 2021 season, DeBoer is 8-0 after a bye week. That includes a 4-0 mark as the Crimson Tide's head coach.
That 8-0 record in the regular season includes five wins over ranked opponents. He led Washington to wins over Oregon State (2022) and Oregon (2023), and then led Alabama to wins over Georgia and LSU (2024) and Georgia again (2025).
In his career as a head coach, including postseason games, DeBoer has an 18-4 overall record in games with at least one extra week to prepare.
Kalen DeBoer typically has his teams well prepared with an extra week of rest
DeBoer's ability to get his team rested and refocused during a bye week could be a big advantage for Alabama over LSU. Lane Kiffin, on the other hand, is just 9-6 in his career as a head coach following a bye week. That includes an 0-3 mark in his career against Alabama with an extra week of rest.
DeBoer talked about his history of success after a bye week during his Monday press conference:
“I think our staff does a really good job of laying out a plan for our players,” DeBoer said. “Obviously, we all got to be on the same page, but taking advantage of it, not just letting it be time off and something where, okay, yeah, you got to refresh mentally, but we’re in it. Like, we’re in the season. This isn’t even close to the end."
This might have been the most welcome bye week of DeBoer's tenure in Tuscaloosa. Alabama limped into it, losers of two of its last three games. After a perfect 5-0 start to the season, the Crimson Tide lost back-to-back games to Georgia and Tennessee before bouncing back and beating Texas A&M.
Alabama was beaten and battered after a difficult stretch. They will - hopefully - be the healthier version we saw in September and early October. The team that looked like a legitimate national title contender, and not a shell of itself.
It will take Alabama's best game of the season to pull off a road win in Tiger Stadium. Kiffin has had this game circled, undoubtedly ready to prove that he should have been Nick Saban's successor instead of DeBoer.
But DeBoer's track record in these spots should inspire some confidence for Alabama fans. The way the Tide has played the last two games coming into this one certainly doesn't.
But DeBoer has proven adept at getting his team prepared with extra time. Hopefully that proves true once again in Baton Rouge.
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