Alabama's 'Worst-Case Scenario' for 2026 Would be Program Shaking
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It's a bad year for the Alabama Crimson Tide to be in the middle of a transition on offense.
Alabama is having a quarterback battle between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell to replace Ty Simpson for the upcoming season. Simpson had to do it all last year, and it's unclear if Russell or Mack will get better support this fall.
The running game was a bust in 2025. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer whiffed on some big-time skilled players in the transfer portal, and that could come back to haunt the team during SEC play.
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports argued that the "worst-case scenario" for the Crimson Tide this season would be to go 7-5 overall and 4-5 in SEC play.
After suffering a humbling 31-17 loss to Florida State in Week 1 last season, Crawford thinks there isn't a chance the Seminoles’ troubled offense can pull off an upset in Tuscaloosa.
However, Alabama might start dropping games as soon as SEC action begins.
"There's a chance the SEC slate will not be as favorable, however," Crawford wrote.
"South Carolina has nearly clipped Alabama in consecutive seasons, and there are contests against Georgia, at Tennessee, Texas A&M, at LSU and Auburn that are not automatic. Heck, you have to throw the road game at Vanderbilt in that category, too."
That's a daunting schedule, and there really shouldn't be any confidence for Alabama fans that DeBoer can beat Texas A&M and LSU, both of which arguably have better coaches.
A 7-5 season would pretty much mean the end of DeBoer's tenure at Alabama. A 38-3 loss to Indiana in the College Football Playoff was bad enough. Regressing to 7-5 in Year 3 would mean that something is seriously wrong with the foundation DeBoer built.
Crawford believes the Crimson Tide have the talent to do much better than 7-5. He thinks the best Alabama can do is go 11-1 in the regular season and return to the SEC Championship Game.
For that to happen, the Crimson Tide would have to have fixed the rushing attack. The run game will be a key area of focus until Alabama proves it's no longer a problem.
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