Early start times make these 2 SEC games even more of a trap for Alabama

The light at the end of the offseason tunnel is beginning to get brighter. With every release of information related to the 2026 season, we take another step closer.

On Wednesday night, the SEC began releasing kickoff windows - not necessarily times - for the remaining games that had not been specified yet. Some were obvious, like Alabama's October 10th home game against Georgia will be a night game. Others were more surprising, like the September 26th home game against South Carolina being slated for prime time.

There are also four games that are considered "flex", meaning the SEC and ESPN will decide at a later date whether those games will be in the afternoon or evening: Tennessee, Texas A&M, LSU, and Auburn.

Perhaps the most noteworthy of the announcements, however, is a couple of road games that already felt like potential traps on the Alabama schedule, and will now surely be due to the sleepy nature of the kick times:

Alabama's road games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt feel even more like trap games now

Road games against perceived "lesser" opponents can always be worrisome. In the Kalen DeBoer era, Alabama has already lost two such games in two years.

Alabama opened last season on the road against Florida State in a game the Crimson Tide was heavily favored in. Alabama laid a massive egg in a two-touchdown loss to what proved to be a .500 football team. In DeBoer's debut season, the Crimson Tide followed up his first signature victory in Tuscaloosa - a thrilling win over Georgia that vaulted Alabama to No. 1 in the AP Poll - by losing on the road to a Vanderbilt team that finished the season at 6-6.

Alabama opens October this season on the road in Starkville against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs took a big step forward last year in Jeff Lebby's second season on the job and will look to do the same in year three. This will be a huge opportunity for Lebby to earn his own signature win, and the early kick time in Starkville, in an obvious look-ahead scenario for the Crimson Tide with Georgia coming to Tuscaloosa the following week, is certainly worrisome.

Then there's Vanderbilt (again). The last time Alabama went to Nashville, the Commodores scored a stunning upset. They'd love nothing more than to do that again.

Without Diego Pavia, most experts believe Vandy will take a step back next season, but Clark Lea has built a quality program and will keep the 'Dores competitive in a post-Pavia world. This game looks especially trap-game-y for Alabama because of the gauntlet of a schedule the Tide will have run leading up to that game.

Alabama will have just finished up a four-game stretch of vs. Georgia, at Tennessee, vs. Texas A&M, and at LSU.

Perhaps more important than winning big games - something DeBoer has proven he can do - is avoiding these kinds of trap games that have caught Alabama slipping in each of his two seasons as Alabama's head coach.

What separated Nick Saban from his peers was his ability to get Alabama prepared even against the most mundane of opponents. Alabama was effectively upset-proof under Saban, which is what made losses to Florida State and Vanderbilt in the last two seasons so difficult to stomach.

The real mark of progress for DeBoer in year three will be Alabama winning the games it's supposed to win.

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