The SEC\u2019s move to nine conference games is about to kill off some of the best non-conference matchups in college football, and Alabama\u2019s home-and-home with Ohio State might be the first casualty.<\/p>\n
Paul Finebaum said Saturday on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus that he\u2019s heard from Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne that the Crimson Tide is having second thoughts about the series, scheduled for 2027 in Columbus and 2028 in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sincerely doubt the Alabama game is going to happen based on what I\u2019ve heard from Alabama\u2019s AD,\u201d Finebaum said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a shaky situation there anyway with a coach that is in trouble. Georgia might do it because they\u2019re a little more in-tune and aligned, but I really don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to go too far and see those games. I know what Ross Bjork has said, and I know what [Chris] Del Conte has said and other ADs have said, but the reality is that the ninth SEC game is going to be very costly for a lot of programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI sincerely doubt the Alabama game is going to happen based on what I\u2019ve heard from Alabama\u2019s AD. . . Georgia might do it because they\u2019re a little more in-tune.\u201d@finebaum<\/a> thinks it is unlikely Ohio State will play a home-and-home against Alabama. pic.twitter.com\/uzlFQOMuCF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 97.1 The Fan (@971thefan) February 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a new development, considering Mark Ingram brought up the exact same scenario<\/a> back in December on his Triple Option Podcast with Rob Stone and Urban Meyer, saying Alabama was already exploring ways to back out of the Ohio State commitment.<\/p>\n \u201cAlabama has a home and away with Ohio State. Why would you even do that?\u201d Ingram said then. \u201cThey\u2019re talking about trying to not do that anymore. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to get done or it\u2019s not, but it\u2019s definitely on the radar to get that off the schedule. What benefit does it do you if you play that game close and they\u2019re going to hold it against you?\u201d<\/p>\n The answer, at least according to the thought process driving these decisions, is none. Texas provided this season\u2019s cautionary tale, reshaping how SEC programs approach non-conference scheduling. The Longhorns opened with Ohio State, played one of the toughest schedules in college football, went 10-3 with losses to the Buckeyes, Florida, and Georgia, and still missed the playoff. Dan Orlovsky and Kirk Herbstreit both predicted<\/a> after Texas got shut out that it would send a clear message to other SEC programs about the dangers of scheduling elite non-conference opponents.<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n If Alabama backs out of the Ohio State series, it would almost certainly trigger a chain reaction across the conference. Why would any SEC team agree to a challenging home-and-home with a Big Ten powerhouse when they\u2019re already navigating what they believe to be the toughest conference schedule in college football?<\/p>\n Georgia\u2019s series with Ohio State \u2014 scheduled for 2030 in Columbus and 2031 in Athens \u2014 might have a better chance of surviving since Kirby Smart\u2019s program operates from a position of strength and consistency that Kalen DeBoer\u2019s Alabama doesn\u2019t currently have. But even Finebaum, who mentioned Georgia as a possible exception, didn\u2019t sound particularly confident. The same financial and competitive pressures pushing Alabama toward cancellation will eventually reach Athens, too, even if Smart has more time and job security to navigate them.<\/p>\n Nothing is official yet. Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork maintains that the games are still on the schedule<\/a>, and Alabama hasn\u2019t formally canceled the series. But Finebaum\u2019s comments, combined with what Ingram said in December, suggest the momentum is heading in one direction.<\/p>\n \t