Paul Finebaum reacts to Alabama being ranked No. 5 in preseason AP Top 25 Poll

The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off an SEC Championship and a trip to the College Football Playoff. At the same time, legendary head coach Nick Saban retired and was replaced by Kalen DeBoer, leading to mixed feelings about what to expect in 2024.

In the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, Alabama was ranked No. 5 in the country. That’s behind two different SEC teams and two Big Ten teams. It’s a spot in the preseason poll that SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum reacted to during an appearance on SportsCenter.

“Alabama at number five,” Paul Finebaum said. “That may be a career achievement for some schools but for Alabama it is the lowest preseason ranking since 2009. That was Nick Saban’s [third] year when he won the national championship.”

Saban took over the Alabama program in 2007. At that point, the Crimson Tide were coming off a 6-7 season and were looking at a rebuild. In 2007, Saban led the Crimson Tide to a 7-6 record. By 2008, he had Alabama winning 12 games and was in the SEC Championship Game. By 2009, the last time Alabama was ranked as low as fifth to start the season, Saban had his team ready to go unbeaten and win a national championship.

“Kalen DeBoer [is] probably okay with number five,” Finebaum said. “He’s still third in the SEC. Expected to make a serious run at the Playoff. So, not too many hung heads in Tuscaloosa but still startling to see a non-Nick Saban team ranked that low.”

Certainly, in his first season, DeBoer is inheriting a better-positioned team than Saban inherited. He’s also had success throughout his career, going 104-12 in three previous stops, including leading Washington to a College Football Playoff appearance.

The schedule starts manageable, with a home game against Western Kentucky to start the year. After that, things rap up quickly with a difficult SEC slate of games.

Paul Finebaum believes Alabama fans are ‘overvaluing’ Kalen DeBoer

Alabama fans are entering 2024 confident in Kalen DeBoer. However, Paul Finebaum believes that some fans have gone so far as to overvalue DeBoer.

“I don’t want to sound like a Wall Street analyst, but I think they’re overvaluing him a little bit, and it’s nothing against him. I’ll spare you guys the resume. Everyone knows that it’s impeccable,” Finebaum recently said.

“But it’s a little bit like back in the day, maybe not quite as much now, but a Notre Dame loss on a Monday and the whole country is beside itself. It’s the same way at Alabama, except it’s a little more current because of Saban having just left. And I don’t think Kalen DeBoer’s prepared for that.”