Despite a disappointing 9-4 debut season, most fans and pundits are starting to believe that Kalen DeBoer has the Alabama football program pointed back in the right direction. The Crimson Tide should be a legitimate National Championship contender in 2025, as long as the QB position is shored up by late August.
DeBoer hasn't won everyone over, however, and some still believe the Alabama program is trending downward. Only wins on the field will change the minds of those people.
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg released a new power ranking on Wednesday, rating teams based on a three-year outlook. Despite Alabama's loaded current roster, a top-five recruiting class from the 2025 cycle, and the belief around the industry that another elite recruiting class is on the way in 2026, Rittenberg ranked Alabama all the way down at No. 10.
That No. 10 ranking puts Alabama fifth in the SEC, behind Texas (No. 1), Georgia (No. 3), LSU (No. 8), and Tennessee (No. 9).
Ranking Texas and Georgia ahead of Alabama right now is understandable. But Tennessee and LSU? That's a bigger logic leap. The Vols are in turmoil after Nico Iamaleava's spring transfer to UCLA, and while Brian Kelly's Tigers should be good in 2025, DeBoer took his Crimson Tide into Baton Rouge last season and demolished LSU, 42-13.
Rittenberg cites QB uncertainty as well as depth hits in the Transfer Portal. The "depth" Alabama lost in the portal was purposeful. DeBoer flipped the roster into what he wanted it to be during the winter Transfer Portal cycle.
Which position group is depth a legitimate concern? There's plenty of talent everywhere. You could make an argument that Alabama is young on the offensive line behind a strong group of starters, but that's an argument you could make for almost every program in the country.
The bigger issue is Rittenberg's criticism of Alabama's 2026 recruiting class, which is going to look even sillier in a few weeks.
Busting the myth of Alabama's "slow start" to the 2026 recruiting cycle
Rittenberg praises DeBoer's 2025 class, but states the 2026 cycle "has gotten off to a slower start." That couldn't be further from the truth.
Alabama entered last summer with four committed prospects. They entered this summer with five. The Tide is actually ahead of last season's pace, and the big recruiting run they experienced last summer is about to happen again. You don't have to be Miss Cleo to see it coming.
Alabama only has six committed prospects at the moment, but no team has a higher average rating of commitments than DeBoer's Tide. Quantity may be a short-term problem, but quality sure isn't.
Alabama will sign another elite recruiting class in the 2026 cycle, and it will further prove how ridiculous this future ranking by ESPN is.
Alabama won't be what they were during the Nick Saban era ever again. But they'll be a lot closer to the top program in the country than the 10th best.