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Kalen DeBoer talks Alabama football roster retention for 2025<\/p>\n
Here’s what Kalen DeBoer said about the Alabama football roster heading into 2025.<\/p>\n
The SEC cares so deeply for its rivalries. Enough to keep secondary rivalries on the long-term schedule? We’ll see.If SEC persists long term with eight-game schedule, that puts secondary rivalries like Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee in jeopardy. A nine-game schedule format allows room to keep more key games.The “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” is long on history, but other rivalries have been much better for the past decade.<\/p>\n
The SEC<\/a> cares so deeply for its rivalries that it once built its interdivisional schedule model around preserving the Auburn-Georgia and Alabama<\/a>-Tennessee games. And those matchups don\u2019t even rank as the No. 1 rivalry for those schools.<\/p>\n Then, the SEC built an eight-game conference schedule model for the 2024 and 2025 seasons that retained primary and prominent secondary rivalries after the conference expanded to 16 teams.<\/p>\n The two-year schedule format to accommodate Oklahoma and Texas joining the league served as a stop gap while conference brass continued to mull a long-term schedule plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n SEC officials have, for years<\/a>, debated increasing from an eight- to a nine-game conference schedule. The league membership consistently decided to stay at eight.<\/p>\n The SEC must soon consider that age-old question again, with a scheduling solution needed for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n The SEC spring meetings, which begin May 27, offer a stage for the schedule debate to revive. Oklahoma and Texas could help tip the vote to approve expansion.<\/p>\n The rivalry tentacle attaches to the debate. A nine-game conference schedule offers avenues to annually retain not only primary rivalries, but also secondary rivalry games. Continuing with an eight-game schedule probably would mean dialing back secondary rivalries that the SEC steadfastly protected for so long.<\/p>\n Some matchups like the Iron Bowl, Egg Bowl and Red River are non-negotiable. They\u2019re going nowhere, no matter the format. The importance of other rivalries varies based on factors such as your age, where you’re from, and the extent to which history matters to you.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how I rate the conference\u2019s 10 best rivalries, some of which likely would go on the chopping block if the eight-game schedule persists in perpetuity.<\/p>\n 1. Alabama-Auburn (Iron Bowl)<\/p>\n Instate rivalries hit differently, especially when that state is football-crazed Alabama. As an Auburn fan once said, the Iron Bowl isn\u2019t life or death. It\u2019s much bigger than that<\/a>. There been national title implications and memorable moments that serve to add to the lore.<\/p>\n 2. Oklahoma-Texas (Red River)<\/p>\n When the SEC added Oklahoma and Texas, the conference didn\u2019t just gain two iconic brands, it acquired one of college football\u2019s best rivalries. Most games are better when played on college campuses, but this one at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas stands as an exception to that rule.<\/p>\n 3. Mississippi-Mississippi State (Egg Bowl)<\/p>\n Mississippians’ chosen side in this rivalry points not just to their allegiance, but to their identity. Opposing sides don\u2019t just dislike each other. They despise each other. This rivalry often features a dash of zaniness. When Ole Miss won the game in 1926, fans of both teams stormed the field. Rebels fans went for the goal posts, and Mississippi State (then Mississippi A&M) fans rushed to fight Ole Miss fans.<\/p>\n 4. Florida-Georgia<\/p>\n This rivalry touts its own hall of fame dedicated to the series. The longtime designation of this rivalry as \u201cThe World\u2019s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party\u201d sums up the vibe for this game played in Jacksonville, Florida.<\/p>\n 5. Texas-Texas A&M<\/p>\n Thanksgiving week felt incomplete during the 12 seasons this rivalry went dormant after the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC. The SEC’s addition of Texas rekindled the series. This game packs its stiffest punch when scheduled for Black Friday, like it is this year. The Texas fight song and the Aggie War Hymn each includes a line needling their in-state rival.<\/p>\n 6. Alabama-LSU<\/p>\n LSU counts as many rivals as any SEC team, but none is more collectively hated than Alabama. You can thank Nick Saban (and copious amounts of liquor in Louisiana) for that. LSU fans even burned Saban in effigy in 2008. Vitriol for Saban aside, this game became one of the nation\u2019s most influential clashes throughout the 2010s.<\/p>\n 7. Auburn-Georgia<\/p>\n As the \u201cDeep South\u2019s Oldest Rivalry,\u201d no SEC series touts more history. Georgia\u2019s stretch of 11 victories in the past 12 matchups dulled the luster of a series that once delivered such thrills as the \u201cPrayer at Jordan-Hare.\u201d Throughout its history, this ranks as one of the SEC\u2019s most evenly matched rivalries.<\/p>\n 8. Alabama-Tennessee<\/p>\n Saban\u2019s dominance took some shine off this series, but the Vols renewed vigor to \u201cThe Third Saturday in October\u201d after they upset Alabama in 2022, then tore down the goal posts and baptized them in the river.<\/a> This rivalry features a distinct smell<\/a>. When cigar smoke wafts through the stadium, you know the outcome has been decided.<\/p>\n 9. LSU-Mississippi (Magnolia Bowl)<\/p>\n The rivalry that supplied Billy Cannon\u2019s Halloween run and \u201cThe Night the Clock Stopped\u201d found its peak stride the past few seasons. Fans from the winning side stormed the field in each of the past three years. This rivalry is not as heated as some others, but its games usually supply rich entertainment value.<\/p>\n 10. Florida-Tennessee<\/p>\n This rivalry lacks the tradition of others, but at its crescendo in the 1990s and early 2000s, this September clash charted the course for SEC supremacy. The game peaked when it pitted Steve Spurrier against Phillip Fulmer, but, even now, animosity lingers between these fan bases.<\/p>\n Blake Toppmeyer<\/a>\u00a0is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at\u00a0BToppmeyer@gannett.com<\/a>. Follow him on X\u00a0@btoppmeyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n