Kalen DeBoer will get a much-needed reprieve from his new SEC nemesis in 2026

A lot has changed in the SEC since Nick Saban’s final season at Alabama, including the Crimson Tide getting a new conference nemesis. In 2024, Kalen DeBoer’s first season at the helm, a 24-3 road loss to Oklahoma undoubtedly kept the Crimson Tide out of the College Football Playoff. This year, a 23-21 loss to the Sooners at Bryant-Denny Stadium cost DeBoer a home game in the first round of the CFP. 

Now, the Tide will head to Norman on December 19 to take on none other than Brent Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners. Regardless of how Alabama bounces back from its SEC Championship blowout loss to Georgia, the Tide could use a reprieve from playing the Sooners, and they’ll get it in 2026. 

Alabama’s 2026 SEC schedule revealed, dates set

The SEC Schedule was revealed on Thursday night, and though the opponents were already set, it's a nice reminder that Alabama’s slate doesn’t include a matchup with the Sooners. Oklahoma will return to Alabama’s schedule in 2027, with the Tide heading to Norman for what will be the fourth time in program history (assuming Alabama doesn’t travel to Oklahoma for another road playoff game next season). 

Even without the Oklahoma thorn in its side for 2026, Alabama’s schedule includes a brutal three-game stretch that rivals the four-game stretch the Tide navigated this season, beating Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee in succession. 

From Week 6 to 8, the Tide will host Georgia, playing the Bulldogs for the seventh straight year and the eighth time this decade, travel to Tennessee on the Third Saturday of October, and host Texas A&M, coming off the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff appearance this season. 

Then, after a bye week, Alabama will travel to Death Valley to play Lane Kiffin’s LSU Tigers before another road game at Vanderbilt. While Vanderbilt was traditionally an easy win on every SEC schedule, the Commodores will remain a serious threat with the arrival of five-star quarterback Jared Curtis to replace Diego Pavia. That bye week will be massive, because that's as difficult a five-game stretch as any team in the country will face in 2026.

Unsurprisingly, it will be a difficult schedule for Alabama to navigate in 2026, which will be a massive year of DeBoer’s tenure.