Contrary to the prevailing sentiment from those who look up to the SEC, the Crimson Tide football schedule this year will be yet another gauntlet. Even half of the out-of-conference opponents are daunting.
In the SEC, it just means more. And for the Alabama Crimson Tide, it means more than most. The usual eight conference games are on tap, with four non-conference matchups. Let’s dive into this year’s Crimson Tide football schedule!
Alabama Crimson Tide Football Schedule Is No Cake Walk
Non-Conference Opponents
There are two cupcake games on the schedule. One comes against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks early in the year. The other takes place the week before the Iron Bowl, with the Eastern Illinois Panthers coming to Tuscaloosa.
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The first game of the year comes against the Florida State Seminoles. They were not a team that struck fear in the hearts of many in 2024. However, they are still a household name in college football and one you can never take lightly. The matchup comes on the road at Doak Campbell Stadium on August 30th. An early road test against a household name in the sport is never easy. And while head coach Kalen DeBoer had a modicum of success in 2024, it was not enough for many, and 2025 will be a telling year for his future with the program.
The next out-of-conference test in the Crimson Tide football schedule comes against the Wisconsin Badgers. This one will take place at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Badgers finished 2024 with a 5-7 record. The September 13th matchup this year comes as the second half of a home-and-home series between the programs. The Crimson Tide handled their business in 2024 with a 42-10 victory at Camp Randall Stadium. Home-and-home matchups can prove perilous, however, as after the Crimson Tide lost to the Texas Longhorns in Tuscaloosa in 2023, they returned the favor in Austin last year in one of Jalen Milroe‘s best performances.
Conference Games on Crimson Tide Football Schedule
The conference schedule for 2025 will prove to be no small undertaking. The rivalry games come in abundance this year, along with the pseudo-rivalry matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs. That game opens the conference schedule, with the Bulldogs looking for revenge after a 41-34 loss in Tuscaloosa last year. Taking place in Athens, it will be another tough road test early in the year for Alabama.
The Vanderbilt Commodores come to town on October 4th with Diego Pavia still in tow. Pavia may not make waves at the next level, but he does still show up in big-time games on Saturdays. The Crimson Tide will be hosting this time. With their hearts firmly set on revenge, it could prove to be another trap game like 2024’s rendition.
Next, the Crimson Tide football schedule sees the team traveling to Columbia for their first contest of the year against the Tigers. Missouri surprised many last year with a 10-3 record and played 7-0 football at Faurot Field. It will prove to be another in a long run of tough road games the Tide must overcome.
After Missouri, it is back to Tuscaloosa for the first rivalry matchup of the year. Hosting the Tennessee Volunteers, a team that handed Bama the second of its four losses in 2024. Nico Iamaleava is gearing up for his junior campaign and second full season as the Vols’ starting quarterback. He played one of his worst games of the year against Alabama last year, and his team still came out on top.
Another road trip follows the Vols, this one to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia to take on the Gamecocks. South Carolina kept the 2024 matchup close in Tuscaloosa, with a 27-25 final score. They finished the year with a 9-4 record, and the love for Shane Beamer grows by the day. The road schedule for the Crimson Tide this year could be the toughest in the country.
After the Gamecocks, the Tide gets a few weeks to breathe from the constant road battles. The matchups are not much easier, however, with the first coming against their second set of Tigers, this time from LSU. These Tigers don’t play, and their head coach, Brian Kelly, could be coaching for his job in 2025. The only saving grace is that this game comes at Bryant-Denny and not Tiger Stadium.
The Sooners come to town next, and it would probably be better for them to leave… sooner… rather than later. Oklahoma handed the Tide their third loss last year, taking a page out of the Vanderbilt handbook and controlling the time of possession battle. It resulted in a 24-3 victory for the Sooners, and there is no question that Alabama is out for revenge this year.
After a brief tune-up matchup against the Panthers, the Crimson Tide gets back on the road for the short trip to Auburn. Nightmares come true in Jordan-Hare, and the Iron Bowl is never a contest to write off for either team. The Crimson Tide holds a five-game win streak over the Tigers from the plains, though the lion’s share of those wins have still seen many race to the medicine cabinet for an antacid. The Tigers’ last win in the Iron Bowl came in 2019… at Jordan-Hare. It was a 48-45 shootout, a high-scoring affair we could see again this year.
The Crimson Tide football schedule is far from a cakewalk in 2025. The road tests are plentiful, and the home contests do not prove to be much better. It will be a terrifying gauntlet of a year, and, for the Tide’s sake, hopefully, there will not be a sophomore slump from DeBoer.
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