Alabama lands in top 10 of ESPN’s new college football ‘future power rankings’
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The future is bright for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
This week, ESPN updated its college football future power rankings for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The rankings take several factors into account, including roster management, quarterback outlook, star power and coaching staff.
Of the 68 power-conference teams, Alabama checked in at No. 10 overall. That was good enough to be 5th-best among SEC programs in the top 10.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg was critical of Alabama’s work on the transfer portal, which may be why the Tide slipped behind several of their peers in these rankings. Here’s some analysis from Rittenberg:
Alabama’s portal performance yielded mixed results, as the team lost coveted running back Hollywood Smothers to Texas, didn’t bring in a veteran ball carrier and saw several linemen transfer to notable programs, including Ohio State (James Smith, Qua Russaw), Ole Miss (Jordan Renaud) and Notre Dame (Keon Keeley). The team did address both lines and picked up NC State wideout Noah Rogers, although a spring injury will keep him out for the start of the season. Alabama’s biggest wins came in retention, as Pierre and the starting secondary — Bray Hubbard, Keon Sabb, Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee Jr. — all will return.
Alabama has some questions on its roster this season, most notably at the quarterback position. However, the Tide have produced relatively-consistently results over Kalen DeBoer’s first 2 seasons in charge. In 2024, Alabama went 9-3 and narrowly missed a CFP berth. In 2025, they managed a 10-2 regular-season record and won a CFP game before bowing out of the Playoff in a blowout loss to Indiana.
Per the latest Kalshi odds, Alabama is among the top contenders to win the SEC next season:
Alabama will open the 2026 campaign against East Carolina on Sept. 5.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
