After its first four-loss season since 2007 — Nick Saban’s debut campaign — Alabama enters Year 2 under Kalen DeBoer with cautious optimism. Still, the pressure to get back to the College Football Playoff remains. Expert Cody Goodwin from Bama247 joined Bud Elliott on the Cover 3 College Football Summer School series to preview expectations for the Crimson Tide this fall.
What are the stakes for Alabama in 2025?
Debate aside, Alabama squandered its shot at an at-large College Football Playoff bid last season with a humbling November loss at Oklahoma. It marked a rocky start to a new era in Tuscaloosa, but there’s reason for optimism going into 2025. With a roster loaded with top-end talent led by returning freshman All-American receiver Ryan Williams and a new face set to lead the offense — whether it’s Austin Mack, Keelon Russell or the projected favorite Ty Simpson — the Crimson Tide aren’t lowering the standard.
“Gotta make the playoffs,” Goodwin said. “They did not make the playoffs last year. I know that they were kind of that last team out. … You can’t leave it up to chance like that, right? You gotta find a way to drive the hammer home. You gotta find a way to take it out of other people’s hands and secure your spot in the playoff.”
Alabama made the College Football Playoff eight times in 10 years under Nick Saban. So, not earning a spot in the expanded 12-team format last season under DeBoer was a notable setback. The Crimson Tide should contend for an SEC Championship again in 2025 with the third-best odds (+500) to win the title game, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Breakout player everybody needs to know
Despite losses in both the transfer portal and NFL Draft, Alabama returns valuable experience at inside linebacker — and bolstered the unit with second-team All-Big 12 transfer Nikhai Hill-Green from Colorado. He joins a group led by veterans Deontae Lawson and Justin Jefferson, giving the Crimson Tide a solid core at the position.
“He’s got an opportunity, I think, to make a pretty big impact this season, whether he’s coming off the bench, whether he’s starting next to Deontae Lawson,” Goodwin said. “He offers a lot in the way of speed. He’s a pretty sure tackler. So, can he just kind of continue to do what he did while he was at Colorado?”
Hill rated as the top transfer linebacker in the 2024-25 cycle after he finished as the second-leading tackler at Colorado last season with 82 stops. He’ll have to adjust to SEC competition, but projects to be a high-impact rotational piece at the least.
Win total outlook
The projected win total for Alabama is 9.5, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, with juice on the under. The early schedule gives the Crimson Tide little margin for error — especially with a new starting quarterback stepping into the spotlight. The season opener at Florida State looms as a tone-setter. Alabama is currently an 11.5-point favorite over the Seminoles, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
“For whatever reason, we’re convinced that’s going to be a pretty big test for this Alabama team,” Goodwin said. “You’re on the road, it’s going to be a hostile environment, against a team that had a down year last year that wants to right some wrongs and figure some stuff out. We know how intense that rowdy environment in Tallahassee is gonna be for a first-year starting quarterback, for a lot of other players that don’t normally open on the road like that.”
Three weeks later, the Crimson Tide visit Georgia in the SEC opener following a bye. If Alabama navigates that brutal early stretch and settles on a steady hand at quarterback, a return to the College Football Playoff is within reach. But the margin for error has rarely been thinner in Tuscaloosa.
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