Alabama is looking to move to 3-0 in "revenge games" from a season ago. The Crimson Tide has already gotten their get back against both Vanderbilt and Tennessee, and they'll look to get it against Oklahoma tomorrow afternoon in Tuscaloosa.
More than revenge, a win against the Sooners will almost certainly clinch Alabama's place in both the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. It will render the Iron Bowl to be only for bragging rights instead of a season-defining contest.
Alabama got embarrassed last season in Norman, falling 24-3 and seeing its College Football Playoff hopes evaporate with a third regular-season loss for the first time since 2010. While this is a new team - and this Oklahoma team is much better than the version the Tide faced a season ago - the returning players for Alabama would be lying if they said that game wasn't fresh on their minds going into this one.
There are differing opinions on this matchup. Some see it as a poor matchup for the Crimson Tide due to Alabama's complete inability to run the football and how stout the Oklahoma defensive line is. Others see it as a bad matchup for Oklahoma due to a struggling Sooners secondary and Ty Simpson being one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
Alabama's offensive line will have to keep Simpson upright to take advantage of that mismatch, though.
CBS Sports national reporter Brandon Marcello is in the camp of this being a bad matchup for the Sooners. So much so, that in an appearance on The Next Round this week, Marcello went so far as to say that he thinks Alabama will win by two or three touchdowns:
"This is just a terrible matchup for them in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Tide end up beating them by 2 or 3 TDs." - @bmarcello says Alabama fans shouldn't be overly concerned about the Sooners this weekend pic.twitter.com/c23pqarSk3
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) November 12, 2025
Brandon Marcello thinks Alabama is a 'terrible matchup' for Oklahoma
Marcello is a former Auburn beat reporter, so he could be trying to old reverse-jinx here. One can never be certain.
But he's not wrong to point out that Alabama does have some advantages in this game. Tennessee racked up 456 yards of offense against Oklahoma two weeks ago, with Joey Aguilar throwing for nearly 400 yards. The Vols couldn't quite pull out the win, though, thanks to three turnovers.
Alabama is No. 4 in the country in turnover margin per game. The Tide's offense tends to take care of the football, while the defense has been really opportunistic at forcing takeaways. Oklahoma is No. 98 in that metric, which could be pivotal in a hotly contested matchup.
Alabama's defense has been getting better every single week, and the Oklahoma offense has been struggling since John Mateer's hand injury against Auburn.
But if Alabama's offense doesn't kick it into gear after back-to-back struggle games, then this could turn into an ugly rock fight that comes down to late-game execution.