The Alabama football program is leaving the neutral-site affairs behind in favor of more home-and-home series after the 2021 college season.
Once the Alabama football team presumably defeats the Miami Hurricanes on Labor Day in Atlanta, the Crimson Tide will finally begin playing Power Five teams in much-anticipated home-and-home series.
For years, this had served Nick Saban and his program. Alabama would only play Power 5 teams out-of-conference at a neutral site. While this gave the Crimson Tide a major scheduling advantage, everything will change after the Chick-fil-A Kickoff vs. Miami down in Atlanta this year. This truly marks the end of an era in what will surely be Saban’s final years down in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama football: Crimson Tide will play its last neutral-site game vs. Miami
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne should be applauded for all the exciting games he has on tap for the football program down the line. The Crimson Tide will play teams like Texas, Wisconsin, Florida State, West Virginia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Virginia Tech between 2022 and 2035. Of course, Saban will most likely be retired well before 2035.
While Alabama fans may love the opportunity to go to places like Austin and Columbus, the reason Byrne is doing this with presumably Saban’s blessing is very simple: Alabama will not be punished by losing a game on the road out-of-conference once the College Football Playoff expands from four to 12 teams. Saban will coach in some of these games, but will not coach in all of them.
Alabama can afford to drop a road game in South Bend, Stillwater or Blacksburg as long as the Crimson Tide are one of the 12 best teams in the country at the end of the year. Other programs may have beaten Alabama to the punch when it comes to impressing the Selection Committee with their non-conference resume, but the Crimson Tide will be making up for it when it counts.
Look for Alabama to win its last neutral-site game vs. Miami before doing away with them in favor of the home-and-home series.
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