Alright, I am being overly dramatic. I can't help but find the media's fixation on Alabama's travel decision too funny.
Alabama will leave Tuscaloosa Saturday morning for its 11 a.m. kickoff against No.16 Mississippi State. Instead of staying overnight in Starkville, the Crimson Tide will spend Friday night at its usual team hotel in Tuscaloosa before making the roughly 85-mile trip to Starkville.
Somehow, maybe due to all the scrutiny on the Los Angeles Rams' travel plans for their season opener in Australia, this has become a headline this week.
Wait a minute... Have we been here before?
News flash: DeBoer isn't hiring logistics gurus and creating something completely unheard of here. He pointed out that Alabama did the same thing in 2023. You know. Under Nick Saban? They ended up winning 40-17. This isn't a brand new strategy; Alabama has done this before, and it worked out pretty well.
Alabama's travel plans for Mississippi State won't have any impact on the game
A majority of the media is trying to portray that Alabama is getting up early, stocking up on gas station essentials, and hopping on a yellow school bus for a field trip. There's a difference between "Alabama is traveling on game day" and the way it has been spun out of proportion this week. We are talking about Alabama football. The program has a plan here. DeBoer said the team will have a police escort and the buses will make the trip efficiently. He also said that Alabama's players are used to early mornings because the team practices early during the season.
And let's be honest here: for anyone who has driven 85 miles, getting there for an 11 a.m. kickoff doesn't mean the team is going to be up at 2 a.m. and sleep-deprived in Starkville. The players aren't being asked to play a midnight game after a six-hour bus ride. They are traveling just 85 miles down the road.
And it may not be the Ritz-Carlton, but Alabama has the hotel they need. DeBoer said the team has everything they need in Tuscaloosa that they couldn't get in Starkville. They got all the specifics they need for their pregame preparations, including meeting rooms. Things, DeBoer said, Starkville hotels couldn't provide. Talk about five-star accommodations. What better explanation do people need? Could Alabama stay closer to the stadium? Sure. If the coaching staff believes its normal hotel setup gives the players a better environment to prepare, why not stick with it? Considering Alabama already used this exact approach three years ago, it's not like the program is blindly experimenting.
There are so many other things that need to be highlighted instead of travel plans. Alabama is 4-0. Mississippi St. is 4-0. Both are ranked. It's Alabama's first ranked opponent of the season. Kamario Taylor is playing outstanding football. Keelon Russell is coming off a 400-yard, five-touchdown performance against South Carolina. Those are way better narratives. Not whether Alabama sleeps in Tuscaloosa or Starkville Friday night. If Alabama gets to Starkville Saturday morning and gets beat because it couldn't handle Mississippi State, it won't be because of the traveling. It will be because of what happens between the white lines.
So, until the final result on Saturday, I am going to assume Bama can survive an 85-mile bus ride.
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