The SEC media has given Kalen DeBoer a reference point on what his Alabama football team must prove in 2026. Being picked sixth in the SEC Media Poll is not unfair, given how Alabama finished last season. Losing badly in two of its last three games sowed considerable doubt, even among Alabama fans. In the 2026 season, Kalen DeBoer must erase much, if not all, of that doubt. He knows it. The media poll is an added exclamation point.
When the 2026 SEC preseason poll was released Friday morning, Alabama football fans were probably not surprised how low the Crimson Tide was ranked. Before the release, Nick Saban had shown Bama fans what to expect.
On Thursday, Saban said Georgia and Texas were the SEC's top two teams. He put LSU and Texas A&M in a toss-up at third and fourth. He was less specific about which team would come next, but he mentioned Oklahoma and Ole Miss as teams that have a chance to win the SEC. Then he mentioned Alabama.
Earlier, Saban had defined Alabama as "a little bit of an unknown." He added, "I think Alabama's got a chance. I think they're flying under the radar. I think they've got some pretty good players. It will be interesting to see how the quarterback situation works out. There's a lot of people who have a chance and have good enough players. It just depends on how things go for them."
Poll ranking worse than Saban's first Alabama season
Friday morning's release of the 2026 SEC Media Preseason Poll has the Crimson Tide at No. 6, but No. 5 in first-place votes. The last time Alabama was ranked as low as No. 5 was in Nick Saban's first Alabama season in 2007. The current ranking and the 2007 one are outliers for the Crimson Tide: "Since 1986, Alabama has been ranked No. 1 overall or in the West Division 22 times. Ten of the 22 times, Alabama was predicted to become the SEC Champion.:
The good news for Alabama Crimson Tide fans is that the track record of SEC Media Preseason Poll accuracy is not good. Going back to the 1992 season, "SEC Media has correctly picked the SEC Champion only 10 times."
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