The 3 reasons why Alabama can still win it all despite the Georgia loss
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No, city of Tuscaloosa and all points that care about Alabama football, the Crimson Tide’s 2026 season didn’t end in the middle of October because of a 3-point loss to a team ranked ahead of it, to a team that was ranked second in the country and is now ranked first.
History will tell you that and very recent history will scream it at you. Recent history as in last season, when Alabama lost its season opener, dropped 2 games among its 12-game regular-season schedule, then got smacked in the SEC title game by Georgia.
And on the following day, the Tide still qualified for the College Football Playoff.
The odds of that happening again this season, in what looks to be the final year of the 12-team Playoff format, are slim and none, because even Alabama is unlikely to get away with that sort of things 2 years in a row. The point is, 1 loss, especially one that looked like that, doesn’t mean the Tide still can’t win it all in late January.
Now, if another loss comes Saturday at Tennessee (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC), then that’s a whole different discussion. The margin for error for Kalen DeBoer‘s team to make the Playoff and go the distance as national champs is surely smaller after the 20-17 setback last Saturday night. But it’s all still very doable, and here are 3 reasons why:
1. Bama is better than last year in the trenches — with a running game, too
Any Bama fan who is honest with himself or herself will admit that in the back of their heads last season, they knew the end was coming eventually despite that gift of a Playoff berth. The 2025 Tide were talented, which is why they won 10 regular-season games, squeezed into the SEC title game and even went to Norman and beat Oklahoma in the first round of the Playoff to advance to the quarterfinals.
That Bama team, amazingly, was 3 wins from a national title despite being severely one-dimensional on offense and despite being very un-Alabama-like in the trenches. Its leading rusher (Jam Miller) barely eclipsed 500 yards for the season and averaged only 3.9 yards per carry. The 2025 Tide only rushed for 1,562 yards as a team — all season — and averaged a measly 3.4 yards per carry, and their inability to run the ball with any effectiveness or stop the run consistently was on full display in the quarterfinal blowout loss to Indiana.
The Hoosiers showed how championships are won in the trenches, bulldozing Bama for 215 yards rushing while the Tide managed just 23 yards on the ground. That was very much last season though, because this year, in just 6 games, Alabama already has 1,093 yards rushing as a team, so it’s set to shatter last year’s total. The 2026 Tide are also averaging 4.9 yards per carry, a full yard and a half more than in 2025, and they’ve done that with still half the schedule to come.
And in that back end of the schedule, Bama actually should have a running game to lean on, unlike last season when the Tide were simply getting by without any balance. This Tide team can run it, led by a couple of true freshmen (Trae’shawn Brown, EJ Crowell), a first-year starting quarterback (Keelon Russell) and a veteran (Daniel Hill), and they’ve shown the ability to stop the run, ranking 5th in the SEC in rush defense by allowing a hair under 100 yards per game.
Alabama circa 2026 is simply better in the trenches, and that’s where winning football is born. Notable analysts like Kirk Herbstreit and Joel Klatt have noticed, whether their praise came before the Georgia loss or even after the bitter defeat.
If Bama can stay healthy enough in those trenches through the back end of its schedule and just get into the Playoff, it could give this edition of the Tide a better shot to go further and, just maybe, all the way.
2. The second half of the schedule is suddenly really manageable
While this might be a more complete Tide team than a year ago and while that loss to Georgia was as “good” of a loss as you could possibly get, it still was a loss and that means a dreaded second loss is that much closer to happening. Fortunately, and we stress on paper, the second half of Bama’s schedule looks a little easier to navigate right now than it did going into 2026.
Alabama has lost its past 2 trips to Neyland Stadium, but perhaps this time will finally be different, with Tennessee’s quarterback situation so uncertain. There’s a reason the Tide are about a touchdown favorite in Knoxville despite the Vols being ranked 14th. This is a very winnable road game, and Bama is simply due to win in the land of those checkerboard end zones.
Week 8 brings to Tuscaloosa a Texas A&M team that is reeling right now, having gone from the top 10 to a 3-3 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the SEC. The Aggies’ only conference win to this point is at home against last-place Arkansas.
Speaking of underachieving, LSU in Baton Rouge will be brutally tough because it’s Death Valley and Lane Kiffin and the rivalry, but these Tigers are barely hanging in the AP Top 25 and they’ve already lost twice. Bama will also have the huge advantage of a bye week at Halloween leading into the traditional early November date with LSU.
If the Tide can get through those next 3 games without a loss, then they should be able to smell the finish line and be confident in running the table. Vanderbilt no longer has Diego Pavia playing quarterback, and Jared Curtis’s days as an elite SEC QB are down the road. Bama should be able to win in Nashville barring a freakish set of events, and then after the annual cupcake game against Chattanooga of the Southern Conference leaves a home Iron Bowl that comes with its own set of attachments but also should come with a win at the bitter end.
If Bama acts in the second part of its schedule like it has in the first part, there should be only 1 more loss at the very most by the close of Thanksgiving weekend. No more losses would all but guarantee a Playoff berth and another shot at the national title, and as the schedule looks at this moment no more losses is a scenario with a huge chance of happening.
3. The Georgia game was very winnable, and AP voters took note
The Bulldogs won in primetime in T-Town and they deserved the win. But if a few calls go a different way, if Dijon Lee Jr. doesn’t get that personal foul penalty in the waning moments, then Keelon Russell gets one last chance and we might be having a whole different conversation. The point is, Bama was right there with the No. 2 team in the land that is now the No. 1 team in the land, and AP voters thought so much of the loss that they didn’t move the Tide down at all the next day, not even 1 spot.
Alabama was No. 6 going into the Georgia showdown and it is No. 6 going into the Tennessee showdown on Saturday. The latter challenge will be that much harder with star wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams ruled out after getting banged up multiple times in the Georgia game and with starting center Racin Delgatty downgraded to out on Friday night with a knee injury he suffered against the Bulldogs.
The Tide’s depth will be tested again, but a team that was a play or 2 away from beating the top-ranked team in the country shouldn’t lose its “serious national title contender” label just because it didn’t finish the deal against the Dawgs. That AP Poll last Sunday spoke volumes. According to Mike Rodak, who covers the Tide for Bama247, it was the first time since 1988 that Alabama didn’t move down in the AP Poll after a loss.
Those AP voters know what they saw against Georgia. They saw an imperfect Tide team but a team far more balanced, tougher in those trenches and better built to go the distance than a year ago.
That theory will be tested severely in Knoxville, especially with Delgatty not playing, but if your agenda is to see Alabama win it all in 2026, then you came out of last Saturday night severely disappointed but still really confident it can actually happen.
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Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
