“Big Game James” Franklin has become synonymous with losing to top 10 teams. He is 4-21 against such opponents, and he did it again in Week 5 as Penn State fell to then No. 6 Oregon at home in double overtime. Then, he let it all unravel with a loss to UCLA in Week 6, the type of game he almost never loses.
Franklin loses the big games and rarely drops the ones he’s supposed to. In many ways, Kalen DeBoer is his antithesis. After beating a ranked Vanderbilt team in Week 6, DeBoer is now 17-3 as an FBS head coach against ranked opponents. He’s 2-0 against Georgia since taking over in Tuscaloosa, and has an undefeated record against Dan Lanning, Steve Sarkisian, and Kirby Smart, a few of the best coaches in the country.
Kalen DeBoer's winning % vs ranked opponents is the best in the country.
— Cover Crimson (@CoverCrimson) October 6, 2025
(h/t @clowfb) pic.twitter.com/KTeD8nPxeT
A tough SEC schedule is perfect for Alabama and DeBoer
However, even with wins over Georgia, Missouri, and LSU last season, DeBoer missed the playoff while Franklin and the Nittany Lions waltzed in because Alabama didn’t handle its business in the less consequential games. After climbing to No. 1 last year, DeBoer lost to Vanderbilt on the road, then in late November suffered another inexplicable loss to Oklahoma, 24-3.
After falling to unranked Florida State in Week 1, he has four losses to unranked opponents through his brief tenure at Alabama, matching the number Nick Saban lost across his 14 years at the helm. Luckily for him, the Crimson Tide plays in the deepest conference in college football, not the top-heavy Big Ten, which has two of the three best teams in the country and a few of the worst.
Four of Alabama’s next five games are against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25, with a trip to Columbia looming next week to play No. 14 Missouri. If the Tide emerge from that stretch unscathed, they may have a case as the best team in the country, or at least a case for the most impressive collection of wins.
In the 12-team College Football Playoff era, in some ways, it pays to be James Franklin. 10-2 Penn State will almost always find its way into the postseason. However, for all the frustrations that Alabama fans have had with DeBoer, Nittany Lions fans would obviously trade in a heartbeat, because having a chance once you do get into the playoff is more exciting than marching to your death after a season of beating up on Iowa and Maryland.