Spring practice wrapped up this week for Alabama football, and the Crimson Tide made a fairly decent move up ESPN’s post-spring top 25 rankings.
Alabama jumped to No. 16 in veteran college football reporter Mark Schlabach’s rankings, a five-spot rise since ESPN’s initial way-too-early 2026 rankings after the College Football Playoff National Championship in January.
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The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot below Penn State and one spot ahead of Washington. Alabama’s five-spot jump trails only that of the Nittany Lions and the Utah Utes, who each rose seven spots overall. But the Tide also trail quite a few SEC teams in Schlabach’s rankings: Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, LSU and Oklahoma.
Year 3 is crucial for coach Kalen DeBoer, and Schlabach echoes many a sentiment when he says a third straight four-loss season won’t be good enough at Alabama post-Nick Saban.
“Kalen DeBoer’s teams went 20-8 in his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide, which might be fine at other FBS programs, but isn’t good enough at Alabama. The Tide have to become a more physical and disciplined team in 2026. They ranked 125th in rushing (104.1 yards) and must figure out a way to run the ball. Former NFL assistant Adrian Klemm was hired to coach the offensive line. Keelon Russell and Austin Mack will battle for the quarterback job after Simpson left for the NFL draft. There were heavy losses in the front seven on defense after Lawson, Jefferson, Keenan and Overton turned pro. Special teams miscues were also an issue during the past two seasons.” –Mark Schlabach, ESPN.com.
