Alabama
Alabama-LSU football rivalry still great, but won’t ever be the same again | Goodbread
An era came to an end on Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium, and it’s hard to say the next era is an improvement.
Hard, but not impossible.
Alabama football handled important business at home in beating LSU 20-9 as coach Kalen DeBoer ran his two-year home record to 12-0. Outside the stadium, it felt very much like the fiery rivalry it’s become; well-captured for posterity by intrepid beat reporter Colin Gay. Inside the stadium, only LSU’s broken season − the Tigers entered with three losses and an interim coach after Brian Kelly’s firing − made it seem anything less.
It was still the passion-filled, hard-hitting affair that it’s always been.
But it also marked the last year of the SEC’s commitment to pit these two programs annually. They’ll play only twice over the next four years, then the league will re-evaluate its new scheduling format that increased league games to nine per team. It’s just not going to be the same going forward, and no, it’s not really a rivalry anymore, because it can’t be circled on every calendar.
So it’s with a lump in the throat that this goodbye must be said, but the alternative would’ve been more like a lump on the head. The SEC assigned Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State to Alabama as its three annual opponents over the four-year schedule cycle from 2026-2029, and of course, Auburn and Tennessee were the right two rivalries to keep. They just mean more to the fan base, and for the SEC, they mean more for television ratings. As for the decision to include Mississippi State, that comports with the league’s effort to maintain some balance in the difficulty of each school’s three annual foes, as well as a parallel goal of geographical proximity.
Of course, the 2025 season by itself makes a poor argument that Tennessee, Auburn and LSU would’ve been too tough an annual trio to saddle Alabama or anyone else with. Tennessee’s not bad, Auburn’s not good, and LSU’s not anything special. But across time, those are three programs that have proven they’ll invest the resources necessary to be a dangerous foe in any given year, and that’s not something that can be said about Mississippi State.
Speaking of programs with resources, Alabama will catch Texas twice in the same four-year cycle, not coincidentally in the two years that it won’t face LSU. In other words, the TV monster will be well-fed regardless, and navigating an SEC schedule won’t be a picnic for anyone. That’s to be expected when the deepest league in the sport adds two helmets like Texas and Oklahoma.
The Alabama-LSU breakup was the right thing to do, but it be strange absence from the schedule. The 2027 season will mark the first year it won’t be played in my lifetime, and I’m 54. The last time it wasn’t played (1963), BeatleMania swept the UK and a gallon of gas set people back 30 cents.
And boy have there been some big ones.
LSU’s 9-6 overtime win in 2011 was truly epic. A defensive struggle for the ages with future NFL players all over the field. Rightly billed as the Game of the Century, it might’ve been the last truly great defensive game, at least played by a pair of national powers at the time, before RPO offenses changed everything. Celebrities from LeBron James to Shaq to dignitaries like Condoleezza Rice lined the sideline. The whole scene belongs in a museum.
There have been some marvelous finishes, too.
Just a year after the 9-6 game, AJ McCarron hit T.J. Yeldon with a screen pass for a 28-yard touchdown in the final minute for a 21-17 win.
Former Alabama LB Marvin Constant stuffed Josh Booty at the goal line on the final play of the 1999 game to preserve a 23-17 Alabama win, and it all but cost him his career. Constant blew out multiple knee ligaments on the play, and was never quite the same player again.
It’s been a long and memorable marriage.
But with the advent of the nine-game schedule, it’s a marriage that’s run its course.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
SPANISH FORT, Ala. (WALA) – The YMCA of South Alabama held a Healthy Kids Day at Spanish Fort Town Center Park.
Saturday’s event featured games and demonstrations, along with interactive activities featuring police and fire vehicles.
“I think just seeing so many organizations come together that serve kids, and just seeing kids have fun,” said Gwen Summer, CEO of the YMCA of South Alabama.
Marissa Rennaker, director of development for the YMCA of South Alabama, said the event exposed children to new activities.
“I think it’s been seeing all the kids laugh and try different things that they probably haven’t tried before,” Rennaker said. “There was a big group doing pickleball and yoga. We had ballet earlier, so just getting them out and exposed to things, I think it’s been great.”
The event was designed to kick off a healthy, active summer.
The YMCA of South Alabama is located at 27080 Pollard Road in Daphne.
Copyright 2026 WALA. All rights reserved.
Former Alabama star Will Anderson Jr. has reportedly signed a three-year, $150 million extension with the Houston Texans, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Anderson instantly solidified himself as one of the top defensive players in football throughout his rookie campaign in 2023. The star defensive end was named as the Rookie of the Year in 2023, as Anderson’s extension will officially keep him in Houston long-term, as well as make him the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Anderson recorded an impressive 12 sacks on the Texans’ defensive line in 2025, as the former Alabama star has made history following his head turning extension with Houston.
Anderson was nothing short of a superstar throughout his time at Alabama. Houston drafted the talented lineman with the third overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft, as Anderson was widely regarded as one of the top overall selections from his class.
The former Crimson Tide superstar has officially inked a massive extension with the Texans, as Anderson will undoubtedly continue playing a critical role on Houston’s defensive line over the coming seasons.
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Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said that No. 4 Texas would be “hungry” against the No. 11Crimson Tide coming off its first series loss of the season to Texas A&M.
The Longhorns certainly were, as they pounced all over Vaughn’s team, striking out 17 Alabama batters en route to a 10-2 win.
“The story of the game was they just kind of kicked our tail in every phase tonight,” Vaughn said.
Alabama starter Tyler Fay had been elite over his past four starts, dating back to his complete-game no-hitter against Florida, allowing just six earned runs over the 26.0 innings pitched in those games. That changed instantly on Friday evening, as leadoff batter Aiden Robbins opened the game with a double and catcher Carson Tinney took him deep for a two-run blast moments later.
Texas added a third run in the first off an Ethan Mendoza RBI double, setting the tone for a dominant day. Alabama did not record a hit until the fourth inning as Longhorn ace Dylan Volantis tore through batters, striking out 12 over six innings.
Fay ended up going 5.1 innings, just the second time he did not make it through the sixth. The other, against Auburn, was only due to Vaughn wanting to keep his pitch count down in the wake of the no-hitter. He allowed season-highs of seven earned runs and 12 hits in the loss.
The Longhorns added a run each in the third and the fifth, before Alabama put the slightest amount of pressure on Texas in the top of the sixth. Bryce Fowler and Justin Lebron scored on the basepaths off an error and a wild pitch, respectively, to cut the Texas lead to three runs.
“You’ve got to find ways to score,” Vaughn said. “Those two guys just created two runs for us, and did a great job creating those runs and we crawl back in at 5-2, and it’s like, ‘Let’s go back to work…’ So thought we had that chance in those middle innings.”
The Longhorns effectively put the game to bed in the next frame, responding with three runs as Fay was relieved by Connor Lehman. Texas would add two more runs on the day, with the only silver lining coming in the fact that Alabama avoided a run-rule.
The Crimson Tide has now lost four straight SEC games after winning three consecutive series. Zane Adams takes the mound with the series on the line on Saturday, in a game that has been moved up to 12 p.m. CT due to anticipated rain in Austin.
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