Spring practice has come and gone, and while Kalen DeBoer and his staff are hard at work looking to assemble the 2027 recruiting class, the rest of us are free to look ahead toward the 2026 season.
Year three is an important one for DeBoer and the perception of the Alabama program. College football's greatest dynasty showed some serious wear and tear a season ago, despite winning 11 games and earning the first road playoff win in College Football Playoff history. Butt whippings at the hands of Georgia in Atlanta and Indiana in Pasadena soured what had otherwise been an enjoyable season with tangible signs of progress.
Now, armed with a major vote of confidence from Greg Byrne, DeBoer doesn't have to worry about any hot-seat talk this season. But there's still tremendous pressure on him to deliver upon the expectations that come with being the head coach at Alabama.
Anything short of a playoff berth will be considered unacceptable, and even that isn't good enough for fans to call a season a success.
Let's examine the best and worst case scenarios for the 2026 Crimson Tide.
The best-case scenario for Alabama in 2026
Make no mistake about it, and call me a homer if you want, but the best-case scenario for this time remains winning the national championship.
Featuring one of the best defenses in college football and plenty of weapons offensively, the biggest question mark will be the play of the offensive line. If DeBoer and company's reimagining of the offensive line features some major wins with players like Racin Delgatty, Jackson Lloyd, and Jayvin James, among others, then the Crimson Tide could take a step offensively.
Whether it's Keelon Russell or Austin Mack at QB, either should find instant success if the offensive line comes together.
Offensively, the best case is Russell wins the job and has a Bryce Young-type redshirt freshman season, freshman RB EJ Crowell is an instant superstar, Ryan Coleman-Williams bounces back into one of the best WRs in America, and the offensive line becomes a legitimate strength.
Add that in with a defense that could be more physically imposing up front, and it doesn't take a large leap for Alabama to be one of the best teams in college football again.
To the brass tax: best case scenario is an 11-1 regular season with the one slip-up coming in a ridiculous four-game stretch that features Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and LSU all in a row. Alabama then wins what might be the final SEC Championship Game, earns the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, and proceeds to win the National Championship.
The worst-case scenario for Alabama in 2026
Some pundits will look at Alabama and assume the worst-case is a total bottoming out and a 6-6 record, but those folks are severely underestimating just how talented this team actually is.
But it's also a young team that could have some growing pains.
The worst case would start with the offensive line failing to come together and a bunch of rotating up front again that fails to allow the unit to get into any kind of rhythm. That makes life difficult for a first-time starting QB in Mack or Russell.
That impacts the running game as Crowell is never fully healthy after an injury-plagued spring, and none of the returning backs take much of a leap.
Coleman-Williams still struggles with drops and keeps the WR room from reaching the heights it has the potential to.
And while the defense is good, it falls short of being elite because the LB play just isn't good enough, as none of the young guys are able to be effective next to Caleb Woodson. Outside of Yhonzae Pierre, Alabama struggles to find another reliable pass rusher.
As a result of that, Alabama drops a game within its favorable first five, either on the road to Kentucky or Mississippi State, and sits at 4-1 entering the brutal four-game stretch. Alabama goes 2-2 during that stretch and comes out the other side at just 6-3 and on the outside looking in of the playoff.
Wins over Vanderbilt and Chattanooga do little to restore Alabama as a legitimate playoff contender, and a motivated Auburn team ends the Tide's six-year Iron Bowl win streak and hands DeBoer a fourth loss for a third straight season. The 8-4 mark becomes the worst regular-season since Nick Saban's first year in 2007, and fans begin beating the drum louder for a change in leadership for football, and the athletic department as a whole.
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