Why Alabama can complain about its 2024 schedule

Alabama isn’t always in a position to complain about much considering what they consistenly accomplish as a program. However, with the SEC opponents for 2024 announced, On3’s JD PicKell says the Crimson Tide may have a right to pick a bone or two considering their slate.

PicKell shared his thoughts on ‘Bama’s 2024 conference schedule on Thursday’s episode of ‘The Hard Count’. He pointed to their game against Georgia, albeit in Tuscaloosa, as well as their run of road games as reasons why the Tide have reasons to grumble following the release on the SEC Network on Wednesday night.

“If you want to complain? There’s one fanbase that I would listen to and that is the Alabama Crimson Tide,” PicKell said.

“I mean look at what they got here. They got Georgia, South Carolina. They got them both at home. But then you go to LSU. I would imagine that would be a night game in Death Valley. At Oklahoma, at Tennessee,” said PicKell. “Like, Alabama, man? They’re going to run the gauntlet.”

Again, context is everything here. When you sit on the throne for as long as Alabama has, complaints might often fall on deaf ears. There’s also the point that any of the ’24 opponents may end up as less menacing than they seem now.

However, at face value, their eight matchups are anything but a yellow brick road. On the home side of things, the conference dished them out a matchup with the Bulldogs, the two-time defending champions, in Bryant-Denny Stadium that will be must-see TV. They’ll also host an up and coming South Carolina program and an Auburn team that should be in the second year of Hugh Freeze’s tenure.

Then, from there, we get to the real meat and potatoes with the road schedule. In Baton Rouge versus LSU, in Knoxville against Tennessee, and in Norman to face Oklahoma are anything but a layup. That was evidenced enough last year as Alabama dropped two of those exact games against the Tigers and Volunteers in dramatic fashion.

In the end, Nick Saban is going to have a roster that’ll ready for every trial and tribulation that their schedule could provide. Even so, in PicKell’s eyes, that doesn’t give the good people in T-Town any less reason to be disgruntled with the hand that they were dealt.

“Again, we’ll see what these teams look like a year from now. But, if there’s one school that can complain, I think it’s Alabama,” PicKell said.