Alabama football faces familiar task ahead of 2026 Rose Bowl vs Indiana
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LOS ANGELES — When asked about Alabama football, and what is fueling the Crimson Tide a day before it faces in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the 2026 Rose Bowl, Kalen DeBoer first talked about Indiana.
The Hoosiers deserve to be the top seed, DeBoer said. “There’s a zero at the end of their record now,” DeBoer said. “No one’s beat them,” DeBoer said.
It’s a familiar place for Alabama to be. Indiana will be the seventh undefeated opponent the Crimson Tide has seen in 2025, handing Louisiana Monroe, Wisconsin, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Missouri their first losses.
On Thursday, Jan. 1, Alabama is expected to take the field at Rose Bowl Stadium as underdogs, sitting as a 7-point underdog according to most betting services.
Alabama’s mindset isn’t changing. It’s keeping an “edge,” DeBoer said, one brought from the “ups and downs” of 2025.
“We have an edge about us,” DeBoer said. “And that edge can come in a lot of different ways. But our guys have done a good job at having a confidence, but also feeding off the people that doubt what we’re capable of.”
It’s a confidence Alabama showed minutes after the Crimson Tide’s CFP first-round win against Oklahoma when Ty Simpson thanked media members who “kind of wrote us off.”
DeBoer’s players have “embraced” or fed into anything seen or heard about Alabama football.
“They kind of add and throw it in the text thread,” DeBoer said. “You want to use it to fuel the fire.”
It’s a challenge, DeBoer said. It’s Alabama’s next “great opportunity.”
And the Crimson Tide is ready, DeBoer said.
“An honor to be here,” DeBoer said. “I’m proud of our football team and what we have done to get to this point. I appreciate their efforts and can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Alabama kicks off against Indiana at 3:10 p.m. CT Thursday, Jan. 1 in the CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football faces familiar task ahead of Rose Bowl vs Indiana
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