Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer has been on the hot seat ever since the Crimson Tide were blown out in the SEC championship game by the Georgia Bulldogs and once again in the Rose Bowl by the Indiana Hoosiers. DeBoer led the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 record last season, including returning Bama to the College Football Playoff.
Analyst Extends Kalen DeBoer Warning Over Ohio State Game
The Crimson Tide’s home-and-home series against the Ohio State Buckeyes, slated for 2027 and 2028, has now been tied to DeBoer’s uncertain future in Tuscaloosa.
During Monday’s segment of the “Bunch Formation” podcast, analyst David Ubben warned DeBoer’s Crimson Tide about potentially cancelling the game against the Buckeyes to protect their playoff credentials.
“I think it’s easy to say, ‘If we had won 10 games, we’d have gone to the playoffs.’ Texas last year happened,” Ubben said. “I think that’s a different kind of risk. You don’t have to schedule Texas, Ohio State and Alabama as your three non-conference games. But I think the schools that still schedule aggressively make a ton of sense.
“If you try to go and play three tin cans, it’s going to catch up to you as much as losing a big-time game. You’re not gonna lose all your big-time games and if you win that big-time game, you’ve basically bought yourself a mulligan in conference play. You can say it’s risky to schedule Ohio State, but the schools that stay the course are gonna benefit over time.”
Speculation has raged about the status of the game, with the Crimson Tide reportedly on the verge of backing out of the series, and DeBoer’s future in Tuscaloosa directly tied to the status of the home-and-home series against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State Legend Denies Alabama Game Cancellation
During Thursday’s segment of the “Bobby Carpenter Show,” former Ohio State star Bobby Carpenter revealed that, despite speculation, the Buckeyes-Crimson Tide home-and-home series is still on track to happen.
“I did a radio hit with a friend of mine who lives in Tuscaloosa and does radio down there for Alabama. Super tied to the program,” Carpenter said. “He told me that he hadn’t heard yet that there was gonna be any cancellation for the Bama – Ohio State series, which starts in 2027 and 2028.
“He said that the one other thing that Ohio State has going for it, unless they wanna cancel on their end, is the new SEC rules, they have to play one Power Four conference opponent or Notre Dame. So, you’re looking out a couple of years just to be able to replace Ohio State with a Purdue or a Kansas, maybe. I don’t know that this can be done.”
Last season, coach Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns lost their season opener to the Buckeyes and, despite finishing with a 9-3 regular-season record, including losses to Ohio State and Georgia, missed out on a berth in the College Football Playoff. The teams are set to meet once again in Austin, in a critical game in the college football season.
