When Alabama beat Georgia to climb to No. 1 in the country last season, predicting that the Crimson Tide would play for the SEC Championship would not have seemed out of the ordinary. However, with four losses to unranked opponents on Kalen DeBoer’s resume since that meeting, the second-year head coach predicting an SEC Title Game rematch with Kirby Smart after downing Georgia again, this time 24-21 in Athens, may draw some attention.
That appears to be exactly what DeBoer did in his post-game handshake with Smart, who fell to 1-7 all-time against Alabama as a head coach on Saturday.
“I know we’re gonna see you again, I know we’re gonna see you again,” DeBoer repeated in Smart’s ear as the two exchanged pleasantries on the field at Samford Stadium. “You have a hell of a team, man,” DeBoer said before wishing Smart “good luck” the rest of the season.
It wasn’t an explicit prediction that Alabama and Georgia would play for the SEC Title in Atlanta in a few months. With the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, there is also a chance that the two teams could meet in that portion of postseason play. However, it was an explicit prediction that Alabama and Georgia, for that matter, will both reach the meaningful games at the end of the year.
Just a week after defeating Georgia in Tuscaloosa last season, DeBoer’s team went up to Nashville and fell to Diego Pavia’s Vanderbilt Commodores. Now, ranked No. 18 in the country and climbing with a 5-0 start after beating Utah State 55-35 in Week 5, Vanderbilt is heading to Bryant-Denny Stadium next week.
The Crimson Tide are also slated for matchups with No. 20 Missouri, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 4 LSU (which will slide after losing to Ole Miss in Week 5), and No. 7 Oklahoma, which may have John Mateer back from his hand injury by November 15. That’s not an easy schedule to navigate, and with the Florida State loss starting to lose some of its luster after the Seminoles fell to Virginia on Friday night, DeBoer’s team may only be able to withstand one more loss to remain in the CFP conversation.
Alabama looks good enough to win the SEC, especially with Ty Simpson continuing to deal against likely the second-best defense he will face all season (Oklahoma). It’s far from an outlandish prediction from DeBoer, and is exactly the mentality any program wants from its head coach, but if he falls flat in the regular season once again, it will be easy to accuse him of looking ahead.