Alabama Football’s toughest stretch of 2024
Alabama will face a brutal 2024 schedule in the first season of the Kalen DeBoer era. The ultra-competitive SEC just got even tougher with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, and the Crimson Tide will still go on the road to play a Big Ten opponent in Wisconsin.
That game in Madison will be part of a challenging September stretch in which Alabama will play the Badgers as well as the Georgia Bulldogs, who may be the preseason no. 1 team in the country. It will help that Bama gets Georgia in Tuscaloosa, and that these two games will be separated by an off week.
The Tide will also have a tricky path to navigate as they close the season. Though the Iron Bowl is rarely an issue in Tuscaloosa, Auburn could be improved in year two under Hugh Freeze. Additionally, Alabama will travel to Oklahoma the week prior, making this a tough two-game stint.
These two groupings in September and November respectively could prove to be tough obstacles for Bama. Alabama’s most challenging stretch of the season, however, will be a month-long gauntlet right in the middle of the season.
It will start with the Third Saturday in October, which will see the Tide look to restore its reign in Neyland Stadium. Bama righted the ship in this rivalry in Bryant-Denny last season, but now it returns to Knoxville for the first time since losing to the Vols in 2022.
Alabama then hosts Missouri, who is considered by some to be a top-10 team heading into 2024. Can the Tigers repeat the success they had last season? If so, this will be a very tough game even at home coming off of a physical rivalry bout.
Bama kicks off November with a much-needed bye week before heading to Baton Rouge to play in one of the most raucous environments in college football. The Tide generally fared well in Death Valley under Coach Saban, but fell in overtime in its last trip. Coach DeBoer and company will need to bring their best stuff to notch this road win.
In this four-week stretch, Alabama will play three preseason top-15 teams, at least according to ESPN’s post-spring rankings. Tennessee and LSU could be the Tide’s two toughest road trips of the season, and they will be sandwiched around a home game against a top-10 caliber team.
While it won't be easy for Alabama to get the sweep in this stretch, Bama’s taxing schedule could prove to be worth it in the long run. As we enter the 12-team playoff era, the Tennessee-Missouri-LSU gauntlet will likely resemble the mountains Bama will have to summit to win national titles going forward.