The SEC rolled over ACC in the men’s version of the ACC/SEC Challenge, but it wasn’t quite the same level of success on the women’s side, including for the Crimson Tide. No. 19 Alabama suffered its first loss of the season in a 69-65 defeat at Cal on Thursday night.
“Tough one tonight,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said after the game. “Credit Cal – it was an amazing environment. I thought we battled, battled, battled. We just weren’t able to get a couple of critical stops and make a couple of plays down the stretch. We missed nine free throws, which are little things on the road that we know we can correct. Cal is a really good team, a veteran team, that can really shoot the ball. We struggled a little bit there in the third [quarter] and I think we gave them five for seven from deep. Our kids battled through a lot of adversity tonight. I thought it hurt us with Diana [Collins] being out, and Sarah Ashlee [Barker] had flu-like symptoms, so no excuses. Those aren’t excuses, but I thought our kids really battled through some adversity tonight.”
Alabama (9-1) and Cal (8-1) switched leads seven different times during the game, before the Bears took the final lead under the five-minute mark in the fourth. Zaay Green contributed a season-high 28 points with a pair of assists and a steal for the Crimson Tide, while two other Alabama players picked up double-digits, including Essence Cody (13) and Karly Weathers (10).
Gymnastics in Crimson and White Preview Meet, Coleman Coliseum, 7 p.m.
Women’s basketball: Cal 69, Alabama 65
Not 1. Pro Bowl vote 🗳️: https://t.co/JsfUV5geTn pic.twitter.com/fa2thKuoZm
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 6, 2024
Not 2.
But TD No. 3 for Josh Jacobs!
In his first game back since an injury on Oct. 29, Herb Jones helped lead the Pelicans to a 126-124 victory over the Suns with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block.
HERB JONES. THE SAVIOR pic.twitter.com/XeXBA4jaWB
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 6, 2024 Sonic end zone sighting 👀@Jahmyr_Gibbs1 pic.twitter.com/7SNHbAEHzm
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 6, 2024 SEC Community Service Team
♦️ Tim Keenan III♦️#RollTide pic.twitter.com/NdsXDlJOkS
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) December 5, 2024
December 6, 1915: Legendary Crimson Tide lineman Arthur Pershing “Tarzan” White was born in Lockhart, Ala.
December 6, 1938: The University of Georgia reportedly offered a substantial contract to Frank Thomas to become the next head coach of the Bulldogs. Thomas, who was 57-6-3 with the Crimson Tide, said he would listen to the Georgia offers but was extremely happy as the head coach of Alabama.
December 6, 1941: Former Alabama player and coach Ray Perkins was born in Petal, Miss.
December 6, 2014: Fifth-year senior Blake Sims was 23 of 27 for 262 yards and two touchdowns to be named MVP of the SEC Championship Game. Alabama pulled away with three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 42-13 rout of No. 16 Missouri at the Georgia Dome. The win secured the No. 1 Crimson Tide a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
“You love to see a guy who’s gone through what he’s gone through, who’s worked so hard and always persevered, then have success. It’s a credit to his character and work ethic. … I’ve never seen a guy work so hard.” — Alabama coach Nick Saban on Blake Sims after the SEC Championship Game on this date in 2014.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are headed back to the Rose Bowl for the College Football Playoff.
One hundred years after Alabama football’s first appearance in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1926, the Tide will face No. 1 Indiana (13-0) in the CFP quarterfinals in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
Alabama (11-3) rallied from a 17-0 first-half deficit to win its first-round playoff game, 34-24, against the Oklahoma Sooners (10-3) Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Norman.
Ty Simpson threw two touchdown passes to freshman receiver Lotzeir Brooks, cornerback Zabien Brown had a 50-yard interception return for touchdown, and Daniel Hill capped the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run as the Tide closed the game by out-scoring Oklahoma 34-7 over the final 36:52.
Conor Talty added two clutch field goals in Alabama’s win, its 10th victory overall in the College Football Playoff since 2014, and its first since the Crimson Tide defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 27-6, in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve 2021.
After Alabama’s rally, Tide players did some celebrating on the Sooners’ field.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
NORMAN, Oklahoma — The stage was set for Oklahoma. Heck, the Sooners earned the right to set it. This was supposed to be the ushering in of a new era of postseason football for the No. 8 team in the country that had won 10 games in what was one of the toughest schedules this year.
No. 9 Alabama was even one of those teams that Oklahoma beat on its way to earning this spot. And Saturday night, all was going well for the Sooners. It was going so well, in fact, that after the first quarter, some Oklahoma fans might’ve peeked at flights and hotel rates for the Rose Bowl from inside Memorial Stadium.
And then the Alabama Crimson Tide curled and rolled the Sooners, 34-24, and are headed to Pasadena. After opening with 17 unanswered points, Oklahoma collapsed under the weight of that wave, becoming the only team in College Football Playoff history to blow a 17-point lead. And now, the Sooners have done it twice — before Saturday, in 2018 against Georgia.
[Best Teams in the College Football Playoff Era: Creating the Ultimate 12-team CFP]
Here are my takeaways from Alabama’s College Football Playoff first-round victory against Oklahoma on Saturday:
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: Zabien Brown #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide stiff-arms John Mateer #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the second quarter during the 2025 College Football Playoff first-round game on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson is an avid reader and listener of college football news. Following the largest comeback win in Alabama postseason history, Simpson took a moment to facetiously thank media members for choosing Oklahoma to win on Saturday night.
“I guess we can thank you guys for that,” an emboldened Simpson said. “You guys kind of wrote us off in a sort of way. So I appreciate that.”
After building a three-score lead, the Sooners watched the Crimson Tide recover a fumbled punt, pick off Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and return it 50 yards to the end zone — all before their First Team All-American kicker Tate Sandell missed not one but two field goals in the final minutes to solidify the worst collapse in College Football Playoff history.
Meanwhile, the Alabama Crimson Tide will prepare to take on No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl for the CFP quarterfinal game. This team that punches back and played its best football with its back against the wall is one that the Hoosiers must prepare for on New Year’s Day.
[College Football Playoff Predictions: First-Round Winners to The National Champion]
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: John Mateer #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners is hit by Deontae Lawson #0 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter during the College Football Playoff first-round game on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
The Crimson Tide began down — just like they did against Georgia in the SEC championship game. But the last three quarters of Saturday’s game demonstrated Alabama to be just who it says it is: the kind of team that can open with a loss to a bad Florida State and also be the first team in six years to walk into Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, and come out with a win.
DeBoer’s task now is to find a way to make certain that the team that showed up at Georgia earlier this season and at Oklahoma in the first round is the same one against the Hoosiers. Linebacker Deontae Lawson said that’s his job too. But Bama’s best trait isn’t one that shows itself until it’s in a fight for its life.
“Man, I just think we’re a resilient team,” Lawson said. “And even though we were down 17-0, we didn’t really look at the scoreboard. Coach DeBoer always says, ‘Keep playing the game. The game will come back to you.’ … We just keep fighting.”
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: Head coach Brent Venables of the Oklahoma Sooners speaks to an official during the fourth quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Let’s look at the bigger ones:
These are blunders. Errors that aren’t forced but self-inflicted. It’s difficult to win any game with those kinds of mistakes on your drive chart. It’s nearly impossible in a game of this magnitude, against a team as talented and as resilient as the Crimson Tide.
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA: Keon Keeley #31 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the College Football Playoff first-round game. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Oklahoma usually plays 50 Cent’s “Many Men” before the start of the fourth quarter. In an attempt to make a statement for its first CFP game at Owen Field, the Sooners brought the rapper himself out onto the field to perform the song for fans in a Hard to Kill Hoodie.
“I didn’t know it was live,” DeBoer said.
“I didn’t know who 50 Cent was,” Simpson said, “but I know that song.”
“We play that song at practice on Fridays,” Lawson said.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.
Hello college football fans, and welcome to The Athletic’s live coverage of the 2025 College Football Playoff!
Yes, after a 2025 season full of an incredible amount of twists, turns, controversy and pure chaos, the second edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff gets underway tonight. Our opening matchup is a battle of blue-bloods whose first meeting this season contributed to that chaos, as No. 9 Alabama takes on No. 8 Oklahoma in Norman.
Follow along for live pregame build-up and the latest news, play-by-play updates and real-time analysis from The Athletic’s college football staff!
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