Who's Ready for Alabama Football in 2021?

The Alabama Crimson Tide will always be king of the SEC. Head coach Nick Saban won his sixth national championship in Tuscaloosa after the school’s most prolific Tide offense ever rolled everyone, including Notre Dame and Ohio State, last season.

The 2020 season was one to remember for Alabama diehards. Wide receiver Devonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy. Quarterback Mac Jones gave him a run for his money, too. Even running back Najee Harris finished in the top five in voting.

Last year, Alabama played an entire 10-game regular season schedule featuring only conference opponents during the coronavirus pandemic. That included SEC East teams like Kentucky and Missouri. Still, that didn’t stop Alabama from pummeling teams week in and week out on ESPN and CBS.

Alabama’s 2021 slate features our beloved non-conference cupcake teams like Mercer, Southern Miss, New Mexico State and even Miami (yeah, ACC fans, I called the Hurricanes a cupcake team). The SEC schedule is slightly more daunting on the road.

‘Bama will travel to Gainesville to take on the Gators in September. Saban’s squad will also have to travel to College Station and Starkville to take on Texas A&M and Mississippi State, respectively, in October. At the end of November is everyone’s favorite: an Iron Bowl matchup against Auburn in The Plains.

That doesn’t mean Crimson Tide fans don’t get some thrillers at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2021. After opening with Miami in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Alabama has home dates with Mercer, Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, New Mexico State and Arkansas. This might look like a tough schedule for an SEC team, but no schedule is too tough for Alabama.