Sports

What is the Biggest Trap Game on Alabama's 2026 Schedule? Just a Minute

By Hunter De Siver Sports Illustrated

Updated July 8, 2026 12:18 PM

Welcome to BamaCentral's "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral basketball and football writer Hunter De Siver, plus assistant editor and football writer Katie Windham, discuss the biggest trap game on Alabama's schedule.

Alabama will kick off its 2026 season in 59 days, and while BamaCentral has taken a deep dive into the opener against East Carolina, the in-depth early opponent previews for all 12 games on the Crimson Tide's schedule can be found at the bottom of this article.

This will be the first season of the SEC's newly implemented 9-game conference schedule, as Alabama's three non-conference contests will be against the aforementioned Pirates (Sept. 5), Florida State (Sept. 19) and Chattanooga (Nov. 21).

ECU and the Mocs should be no problem for the Crimson Tide, but that's not a guarantee against the Seminoles. Alabama fell to Florida State on the road in Week 1 of last season, which was its first loss in a season opener since 2001.

While this was a major upset, it was also a trap game for head coach Kalen DeBoer and company. The Tide was favored to win by two touchdowns, but ended up falling by that same margin. Former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson even said that the team got complacent that afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida.

Trap games are quite common in college football, and some of Alabama's opponents on the 2026 schedule could be better than projections say. Here's who Hunter De Siver and Katie Windham believe are the biggest threats for the Tide to overlook.

Windham: Kentucky

"I think the Kentucky game in Week 2 could kind of be a trap game for the Crimson Tide," Windham said. "It kind of follows the formula of games under Kalen DeBoer that they've lost these first two years, and obviously, he and the team are hoping to not keep following that trend. But Year 1, you lose Vanderbilt after a big win over Georgia. Last year, that Florida State game, Florida State was coming off a bad year, Kentucky's coming off a bad year, you should win that game on the road.

"And yet, Alabama's lost some of these road games the last couple years at Vanderbilt, at Oklahoma, Florida State last year, that they really shouldn't lose. I think with this Kentucky team, Alabama could still be figuring out the quarterback situation a little bit...If they're not careful [it could go poorly]. You would think they would start out the year on fire, but I think we thought that last year after everything they said in fall camp, and then they kind of fell flat at Florida State.

"So you start out with East Carolina, and then you go on the road to Kentucky, and it's really early in the year to start on the road in SEC play, and it should be a game that you win, but we'll see kind of how things turn out."

De Siver: Vanderbilt

"Last time Alabama was in Nashville, it did not go well," De Siver said. "A couple days before the game, they had set literal mouse traps around the athletic facility, and everyone's talking about, 'Alright, it's a trap game, it's a trap game,' and then they still fall.

"Now Alabama's a much different team from two years ago, and the same is set for Vanderbilt, but there's just something in me that could say this could be a game that is closer than we'd think. Alabama will be going against not one, but two former players, in Cole Adams, a wide receiver, and Micah DeBose, an offensive lineman. So that's already a matchup to kind of keep an eye on.

"But I think Alabama should still probably come out on top of that game, because their quarterback situation and everything should be figured out by them, as it's kind of in the midway point of the season, but that is my trap game for this one."