Alabama football’s 2022 season ended with a New Year’s Six Bowl win over the Big 12 champion. With such an accolade and a 10-2 regular season record, the average college football fan would be ecstatic. However, Crimson Tide fans were not.
The annual expectation in Tuscaloosa is to win a national championship or compete for one at the very least.
The upcoming 2023 is shaping up to be an interesting one for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. Not only is the schedule loaded with challenges, but there are a lot of crucial contributors from 2022 that need to be replaced. At the time of publishing this, two weeks from Week 1, there is still an ongoing three-man race for the starting job.
Recently, Seth Emerson and Kennington Smith III of The Athletic (subscription required) predicted how many wins each SEC team will win in the 2023 season.
For Alabama, the projection is 10, which means two losses for the second year in a row.
“The dynasty could be ending – or we could be forgetting that Alabama’s two losses last year were by five combined points – and it barely lost the national championship game the prior year,” writes Emerson. “There’s still enough talent, and there’s still Nick Saban, to bet the over.”
Smith takes a slightly different approach to the Tide.
“The Crimson Tide’s schedule is loaded: marquee games against Tennessee, Texas and LSU and potential land mines at Kentucky and Tennessee. There are questions at quarterback, but the overall roster talent and the fact that the toughest three games (Tennessee, Texas and LSU) are at home should mean we should take the over, slightly.”
Alabama will be tested early in the season, as Texas will visit Bryant-Denny Stadium for Week 2. Only time will tell how this Crimson Tide team performs; but for now, there are many question marks that warrant a prediction of around 10-2.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the 2023 season approaches.
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