Alabama has been hot against ranked teams recently. They had the upset against Georgia and then got revenge on Vanderbilt after the Commodores' shocking win over the Tide last season. This Saturday will be their third straight ranked opponent, with many fans calling it a "trap game." It seems as though this really could be a trap game based on the history of college football, and Alabama is going to have to join the other four teams in SEC history that have pulled this off.
4 teams in @SEC history have defeated 3 ranked conference opponents in 3 consecutive weeks w/o an open date...
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 7, 2025
Alabama will play it's 3rd straight ranked conference opponent in 3 weeks on Saturday.
Alabama has done this once before in 2016. They beat a ranked Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and LSU on their way to a national championship. Georgia beat three ranked opponents in 2021 and 2023 as well in a row. Alabama has also completed a stretch like this in 1999. The Tide are 2-11 all-time when trying to win three ranked games in a row. This is going to be a huge test for Alabama and may even face a fourth straight ranked game when the Tide and Volunteers face off next week.
After the Tennessee game, Alabama may have to play three more ranked teams in LSU, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The Gamecocks would have to rejoin the AP top 25 rankings over the next weeks, though. Compared to a team like Oregon, that does not have another ranked game left, the remaining schedule is going to be brutal for the Tide. I wrote previously about DeBoer's team performing above expectations when they play ranked teams, and they are going to have to keep that going down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if the Crimson Tide can keep adding to the win column during this stretch.
It will be interesting to see how the playoff committee debates these schedules down the stretch when comparing the Tide to a team like Oregon or a two-loss Notre Dame team that wins out. Will they take the grueling schedule of SEC football into account? Or, are they going to just look at the smallest number in the loss column? One thing is for sure: fans are going to see if the Crimson Tide is a championship team or impostors down the stretch.