In just three games of the early 2023 college football season, Alabama football fans find themselves in unfamiliar territory. After two decades of pure and utter domination, this year’s Crimson Tide team looks nothing like its former self through just three games. After basically scrimmages against Middle Tennessee State University, Texas came into Tuscaloosa in a rematch of last year’s contest, this time besting the Tide. And then this past Saturday, even in a win, Alabama may have looked the worst it has since head coach Nick Saban’s first year all the way back in 2007, the same year they lost to Louisiana-Monroe.

It’s not just Alabama football, though; the entire landscape of college football is different this year. There doesn’t seem to be one dominant team, allowing for more parity thus far. No one has looked unbeatable, not even Alabama when facing the South Florida Bulls, as they did on Saturday.

Is this finally a down year for Saban and Alabama? The one every college football fan and analyst has been predicting for 20 years. Never count any Nick Saban-coached team out of anything, but if there’s one year where that may be true, it might just be this one, as there’s reasonable evidence to support that.

Let’s attempt to predict the remaining Alabama football schedule.

Ole Miss

When making my bold predictions for Alabama before the season began, I initially had Ole Miss beating Alabama. But then I thought, there’s no way Saban loses to both of his former assistants. However, I did still say it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. And I think that might just be the case this season.

If there was ever a year for Lane Kiffin to finally get a win over Saban, then this has to be the year, right? Steve Sarkisian finally did it, so why not Kiffin? Of course, Texas is a much better team than Ole Miss, but still, this Alabama team looks wildly lethargic and not even well-coached up to this point. Kiffin’s team’s consistent problem has been defense. They gave up 20 points to Tulane in Week 2 and 23 to Georgia Tech last week. Does that mean the Crimson Tide offense has a chance to score some points this week, especially with Jalen Milroe starting again? Maybe. Nonetheless, I still believe Kiffin finally gets his win over Saban.

(2-2)

at Mississippi State

Alabama finally gets their first SEC road scheduled game against Mississippi State. Most are still trying to figure out what Mississippi State is now due to the unfortunate passing of head coach Mike Leach. The now Zach Arnett-led Bulldogs are 2-1 after narrowly escaping Arizona and then getting smashed by LSU this past weekend. This, oddly, feels like a win for Alabama, but not like it usually has in the past. They should be able to put some points on the Bulldogs…right?

(3-2)

at Texas A&M

How could the 12th man affect the Crimson Tide? This is never an easy place to play for opponents, and Alabama hasn’t had the best of luck there either. Of course, Johnny Manziel isn’t walking into Kyle Field anytime soon, so I’m not sure this will be a game that goes in the Aggies’ way.

We’ll begin to learn more about the Aggies as they have some SEC play coming up against Arkansas and Auburn, but their loss to Miami has to be concerning for folks back in College Station. This could be one of those back-and-forth games between two mediocre teams, with Alabama narrowly escaping with a victory. This could also be the beginning of the end of the Jimbo Fisher era with Texas A&M.

(4-2)

Arkansas

Saban is undefeated against the Arkansas Razorbacks since joining Alabama back in 2007. Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman has done a heck of a job making Arkansas competitive again, instead of the laughingstock of the SEC it was becoming. Stranger things have happened, but a lesser-talented Razorbacks team at home doesn’t seem like the time for Saban to lose to Arkansas.

(5-2)

Tennessee

We perhaps got our first real glimpse of what this year’s version of the Tennessee Volunteers looks like with Joe Milton taking the reins at starting quarterback. Against the Florida Gators at the Swamp, it didn’t go the way the Volunteers would have hoped, losing 29-16. But as we know, this hasn’t been the way Alabama fans would have expected this season to go either.

We’ll know a lot more about these teams when they meet for the annual Third Saturday in October. Whether Saban has been looking forward to this game since last season or not, Alabama football fans have certainly had this one circled since last year’s game when the Volunteers upset the Crimson Tide in front of an unforgettable Neyland Stadium crowd that ended up crowding the field afterward and tearing the goalpost down.

This year’s matchup will be in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Don’t look for any offensive slugfest. Alabama gets their revenge.

(6-2)

LSU

All Brian Kelly did last season in his first season in the SEC was come in and beat Alabama and Saban and play for the SEC Championship. Sure, the conference title game may not have gone their way in any fashion, but still an impressive debut for Kelly nonetheless. Even with LSU losing to FSU in the opener this season, at this point in the season, the Tigers feel like the better team. They definitely have the bigger advantage at the quarterback position with Jayden Daniels. Quarterback play at Alabama will likely be suspect all season, not allowing them to dominate how they have in the past. Daniels will be the difference-maker in a big way and give Kelly a 2-0 record against Saban as an SEC coach.

(6-3)

at Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats are yet another SEC team against which Saban has an undefeated record since he joined Alabama. Kentucky is still a solid football team and probably always will be as long as Mark Stoops is head coach. But if Saban loses to Kentucky, it might be time to hit the panic button. But if Alabama continues to struggle, this could also be one of those wild games that goes Kentucky’s way. I’m still going with the Tide, though.

(7-3)

Chattanooga

No need to delve deep into this one. It’s Chattanooga. This will be nothing more than another scrimmage-type game in preparation for the Iron Bowl the next week.

(8-3)

at Auburn

The only two wins that Ole Miss had against a Nick Saban Alabama football team were when Hugh Freeze was the coach of the Rebels. Freeze is 2-3 overall against Saban, which just makes the Iron Bowl that much more interesting as long as both of these head coaches are with their respective teams. Could you imagine if Freeze came in year one under Freeze and beat Saban and Alabama in the Iron Bowl? They may extend Freeze’s contract immediately after the game.

Auburn could easily upset some teams on their schedule this season just from Freeze’s coaching alone. The thing to watch out for is if Alabama has just been completely decimated at this point. They’ll be bowl-eligible, but being bowl-eligible isn’t the standard at Alabama. How will this team respond if they’ve lost three games or more coming into Auburn, who may be relying on a win over Alabama to become bowl-eligible? We’ve seen some crazy things go down in this game, but this game might just be the pinnacle of Alabama’s season this year. The Tide wins the Iron Bowl, but it may not be as easy as everyone thought.

(9-3)