DeBoer Shares Thoughts on 9-Game Conference Schedule

Alabama struggled on the road in the SEC last season, going 1-3 in road games within the conference last year. The SEC is by far the toughest conference to play in on the road, and Alabama and DeBoer learned that last season.

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The biggest conversation around the SEC and the remainder of the Power Four is the SEC's hesitancy to expand to nine conference games. The SEC schedules marquee non-conference games (Alabama-FSU, LSU-Clemson, Tennessee-Syracuse, etc) that draw the eyes of the college football world. If the SEC expands to nine conference games, it could force teams, like Alabama, to cancel big non-conference games down the line.

What does Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer think about the potential move to nine conference games?

"I know there's a lot of pros when it comes to strength of schedule. I'm all for that," DeBoer said. "You look at our schedule this year, again, that was built out years back as well, but we're playing Florida State, Wisconsin, one away, one at home. We're all about playing as many high-end games that you can possibly play. Certainly, adding another SEC game to the schedule would accomplish that."

If the strength of schedule was used as a metric for the College Football Playoffs last season, Alabama likely would have made the playoffs, rather than being the first team sitting on the outside of the playoffs.

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Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.