Rivalry weekend for the 2025 college football season is here, and the slate is loaded with games that will have significant implications on team seasons, bowl eligibility, and College Football Playoff chances.
While there are plenty of great matchups, one of the most intriguing is the annual Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama. The Crimson Tide enters the game as a clear favorite, but former Alabama head coach Nick Saban believes Kalen DeBoer and his team could be on upset alert on Saturday.
Nick Saban Puts Alabama on Upset Alert Against Auburn
When looking at the 2025 Iron Bowl on paper, Alabama appears to hold the upper hand over Auburn in every major category.
The Crimson Tide offense ranks 10th in the country this season according to PFSN’s CFB OFFi metric, while the Tigers sit at 36th. Defensively, it’s the same story. Alabama’s unit ranks sixth in the country in PFSN’s CFB DEFi metric, while Auburn’s defense checks in at 27th.
However, college football rivalry games rarely follow metrics. Every season, we see teams pull off major upsets over their biggest rivals, such as Michigan knocking off Ohio State in 2024, and 2025 should be no different.
When asked on “College GameDay” which team could play spoiler this weekend, Saban warned that Alabama traveling to Jordan-Hare Stadium to face Auburn could put the Crimson Tide in real danger, saying, “Alabama going to the haunted house is scary to me.”
Nick Saban asked on @CollegeGameDay about which team will play spoiler today. Saban: “Alabama going to the haunted house is scary to me.”
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) November 29, 2025
If anyone understands the chaos that comes with the Iron Bowl, it is Saban. Although the former Alabama head coach went 12-5 against Auburn, four of those five losses came on the road at Jordan-Hare, or as he likes to call it, the “haunted house.”
From the legendary “Kick Six” in 2013 to the even more improbable “4th and 31” in Saban’s final year at Alabama, some of college football’s wildest plays have happened at Jordan-Hare. Saban knows that no matter how each team performs leading up to the game, anything can happen during the Iron Bowl.
The environment at Auburn Saturday night will undoubtedly be hostile for DeBoer, who took over Alabama after Saban retired, and it could present a real challenge for the Crimson Tide even if they are the superior team on paper.
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A loss to the Tigers would completely derail Alabama’s 2025 season. The Crimson Tide enters the matchup with a 79.3% chance to make the College Football Playoff (CFP) according to PFSN’s CFB Playoff meter, but a loss on Saturday would knock them out of both the SEC Championship game and the CFP altogether.
The Iron Bowl is the most crucial game of Alabama’s season, and with Saban not showing confidence in his former team, the Crimson Tide should be uneasy about heading to Jordan-Hare on Saturday night.