Alabama schedule offers unique challenge, a first in the Nick Saban era

The 2022 season will present a brand new challenge for Nick Saban during his Alabama tenure. A quirk in the schedule — noted on Twitter by Fox analyst Joel Klatt — should mean the Crimson Tide are facing a couple opponents in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Alabama, for the first time since Saban took over in 2008, plays consecutive road games against opponents that are each coming off an idle week prior to hosting the Tide. Both games come against SEC west opponents: at LSU on Nov. 5 and at Ole Miss on Nov. 12.

This season @AlabamaFTBL will have to do something they have not had to do under Nick Saban

The Tide have to play road games on consecutive weeks with each opponent coming off IDLE week

Nov 5 @LSUfootball
Nov 12 @OleMissFB

— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) August 25, 2022

Going into hostile environments in November against a relatively fresh team, most likely as a favorite, sounds like a recipe for at least one upset. Though Alabama will have plenty of seasoning by the time November hits.

Following the opener against Utah State on Sept. 3, Alabama travels to Austin to play at Texas — though the Crimson Tide is favored to win, it will surely be a raucous crowd. Plus, road games at Arkansas and Tennessee are no walkovers. And there’s the much-awaited Oct. 8 showdown with Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa, after Saban and Jimbo Fisher’s offseason dustup.

Alabama did have a very similar thing happen on the schedule in 2010, but with an idle week of their own in between. Alabama played at Tennessee on Oct. 23 that year (Tennessee was off on Oct. 16), then the Crimson Tide were off on Oct. 30 before playing at LSU on Nov. 6 — the Tigers also had a week off on Oct. 30. Close, but with some more breathing room for Alabama than the 2022 slate.

It’s hard to imagine this first-time scheduling quirk will derail a Nick Saban-led Alabama team that is expected to compete for the national title, but it certainly means they’re in line to get the best shots LSU and Ole Miss can offer. Especially if the Tide make it to November with an unblemished record through the first portion of their schedule.