The polls have spoken.
Alabama football checked in at No. 13 in this season’s first edition of the Associated Press Top 25, marking the end of the team’s 18-year streak of beginning the season in the top 10.
The placing is also the Crimson Tide’s lowest in the poll since 2008, when it entered the season No. 24 before closing it at No. 6. That season, the team held the No. 1 spot in the poll for five weeks and finished undefeated in the regular season, before a loss to Florida in the SEC championship derailed former head coach Nick Saban’s first push for a national title at Alabama.
Ohio State and Oregon headlined the poll, with Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas rounding out the top five. Indiana became the third reigning national champion since 2020 to begin the season outside the top five.
Alabama was picked similarly in the Coaches Poll, ranking No. 11. With a starting quarterback not yet named as of Monday, a rebuilt offensive line and several injuries to key offensive players, it will take time for media and fans alike to fully trust Alabama this season.
National personalities, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, have criticized the team after it ended the 2025 season with a 38-3 blowout loss in the Rose Bowl to the eventual national champion. Smith even called for head coach Kalen DeBoer’s firing on July 21.
“Give him the money to just go away,” Smith said. “Call him Jimbo Fisher. Call him Brian Kelly. Do something. Get rid of him, because he ain’t the guy.”
Since the drubbing the Hoosiers dealt Alabama in January, the team has effectively flown under the radar as a contender in 2026. That has happened sparingly since Saban stepped onto the tarmac at Tuscaloosa National Airport on Jan. 3, 2007.
That position may just be right where DeBoer wants to be, though.
The third-year skipper said after his team’s first practice of fall camp on July 30 that the Crimson Tide was “definitely aware” of the doubt cast upon it. On Thursday, his team will scrimmage for the second time this fall ahead of its Sept. 5 season opener against East Carolina.
Here is how the initial Top 25 shook out:
No. 1: Ohio State
No. 2: Oregon
No. 3: Georgia
No. 4: Notre Dame
No. 5: Texas
No. 6: Indiana
No. 7: Miami
No. 8: Texas A&M
No. 9: Ole Miss
No. 10: Oklahoma
No. 11: LSU
No. 12: Texas Tech
No. 13: Alabama
No. 14: BYU
No. 15: USC
No. 16: Michigan
No. 17: Washington
No. 18: Penn State
No. 19: SMU
No. 20: Tennessee
No. 21: Utah
No. 22: Iowa
No. 23: Houston
No. 24: Louisville
No. 25: Missouri
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