Alabama football fans are enduring the long offseason wait for the Alabama Crimson Tide to redeem itself from a 9-4 season. Though Kalen DeBoer is building toward his second Alabama season, expectations are the same as they were, going back to Nick Saban in 2008. They are to win an SEC Championship and a National Championship.
Championship expectations are the norm in Tuscaloosa. Though achieving No. 1 is an unrealistic every-season goal; it is correct for the Crimson Tide. Nothing less can ever be enough.
The other No. 1 rank Alabama Football needs to win back is college football's most-hated team. Alabama had that honor throughout the Alabama Football Nick Saban Era. Make no mistake. It was an honor. Every season was not joyless murderball (which Crimson Tide fans loved), but Alabama was hated for often being too good for the rest of college football. Many college football fans loved the Crimson Tide's struggles last season, but the hate subsided enough that going into the 2025 season, other teams are hated more.
Josh Pate rates the Texas Longhorns as the most hated team in college football. On his show, Pate said, "When a Texas fan says, 'they hate us, cause they ain't us,' the Texas fan is half-right. They do hate you. They despise you on a cellular level. I'm not always sure it's because they ain't you. Some of these folks hate you and would never want to trade places with you."
Alabama Football and returning to college football's most hated
Pate explained the importance of being hated, "You should always long to be hated. If they don't hate you, you're irrelevant." If Texas is the most hated, other teams attract hate as well; even Alabama although the hate level is diminished.
Hating a program for being too good goes way beyond the standard animosity that is constant between entrenched rivals. In the current era of college football, there is a new source of hate. It comes from disparities in NIL spending.
According to a story published by Essentially Sports, 247Sports' Brad Crawford points at LSU to challenge Texas as the most hated. Crawford said, "LSU is loading up... They went out and spent money that he did not have two years ago... ”
The conclusion offered in the Essentially Sports piece was "If LSU finds success, the hatred will only intensify. Fans and critics alike will point to their NIL spending, their aggressive recruiting, and their coach’s confidence as reasons to root against them." Brian Kelly, with his fake southern accent and bold claims, is a spark fueling new hatred for the Bengal Tigers. It is ironic, that if Kelly does not deliver some Playoff success in the 2025 season, he could be on a hot seat in Baton Rouge.