Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer doesn’t like these unintended consequences of 9-game SEC schedule

The SEC is moving to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026. For Alabama, this means they will face a conference foe in just the second game of the season, and one on the road at Kentucky. That is after opening the season against East Carolina on September 5.

Kalen DeBoer is worried that there will be unintended consequences to the SEC having to play nine of its 12 games against conference opponents, per Nicole Auerbach of NBCSports.

“Kalen DeBoer makes the point that, with 9-game conference schedules, there will be fewer nonconference crossover games, and that ‘is going to make it harder to understand the strength of schedule that we all have, whether it’s the SEC or other conferences,'” Auberbach posted on X, formerly Twitter.

DeBoer does not see a solution if they are playing nine games against the SEC to find a comparative strength of schedule. It is not a hard formula, though. There are three more games to schedule against solid opponents. Alabama opens against East Carolina. They are coming off a nine-win season, their fourth winning season in the last five years. Still, this is a nine-win team from a non-power conference, and is nothing more than a slightly difficult warm-up game.

The second non-conference game comes against Florida State from the ACC. While the Seminoles have not been the best in recent years, that should provide a solid comparison point. Still, the major gripe with the schedule comes in the second-to-last game of the season on November 21. Alabama faces Chattanooga that week. While most teams do not have an open week that week, the schedule can be moved around to give Alabama a solid, earlier power conference opponent.

Teams such as Boston College, Clemson, and Louisville all have FCS opponents. All of them also face Florida State, which would give a comparison point for Alabama. Still, DeBoer wants his cupcake game, and wants to complain about the nine-game conference schedule in the process

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