2020 Alabama football schedule is the toughest of Nick Saban era

The Alabama football schedule for 2020 is the toughest the Crimson Tide will face in the Nick Saban era, but will it stop them from winning the SEC title?

When Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa back in 2007, we had a feeling he’d get this blue-blood program back to its winning ways. What we couldn’t have anticipated is him putting together arguably the greatest dynasty in college football history. Five national titles later, Saban has cemented his place on college football coaching Mount Rushmore.

However, it has been two years since the Alabama Crimson Tide last won a national title. They needed overtime to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta in January 2018. While they did get back to the national championship game in January 2019, the Crimson Tide were no match for Dabo Swinney‘s Clemson Tigers. Alabama then followed that season up with a two-loss campaign.

Though Alabama should be the pick to represent the SEC in the 2021 College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide face the toughest schedule of the Saban era. While the non-conference slate is decent, there are certainly a handful of spots where the Crimson Tide can slip up in conference play. Here is Alabama’s 2020 college football schedule.

Alabama Crimson Tide 2020 football schedule

• Sept. 5: vs. USC Trojans (AT&T Stadium)
• Sept. 12: vs. Georgia State Panthers (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Sept. 19: vs. Georgia Bulldogs (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Sept. 26: vs. Kent State Golden Flashes (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Oct. 3: at Ole Miss Rebels (Vaught-Hemingway Stadium)
• Oct. 10: at Arkansas Razorbacks (D.W.R. Razorback Stadium)
• Oct. 17: vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Oct. 24: at Tennessee Volunteers (Neyland Stadium)
• Oct. 31: BYE
• Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers (Tiger Stadium)
• Nov. 14: vs. UT-Martin Skyhawks (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Nov. 21: vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers (Bryant-Denny Stadium)
• Dec. 5: 2020 SEC Championship game (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)

Of Alabama’s four non-conference games, the most intriguing is the Week 1 date with the USC Trojans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Though Alabama is a superior team to the Trojans, we shouldn’t expect a blowout of USC by Alabama like we did four years ago. This is a critical year for head coach Clay Helton in Los Angeles, so he can’t stumble out of the gate and keep his job.

Alabama’s SEC opener vs. Georgia will be the Crimson Tide’s toughest test in the early part of the season. Even with a new starting quarterback in Jamie Newman, the Dawgs might be the one team capable of going into Bryant-Denny and getting a win this fall. It’s not likely, but that’s one heck of an opponent to commence conference play if you’re the Tide.

During the October part of Alabama’s schedule, the Tide only play one game at home. Though they should beat Mike Leach’s Mississippi State Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, there are a few road dates where the Tide could stumble. While fumbling at Arkansas would be embarrassing, the Oct. 3 date at Ole Miss and Oct. 24 date at Tennessee could be problematic.

As with Georgia, these two games feature head coaches who were Saban disciples. Lane Kiffin had been his offensive coordinator in the mid-2010s. In his first year at Ole Miss, Kiffin just might be the first Saban disciple to beat his mentor. Saban has lost in Oxford before right in the heart of this dynasty.

Jeremy Pruitt replaced Georgia’s Kirby Smart as Saban’s defensive coordinator in 2016. Two years later, he’s leading Rocky Top in the right direction. While Saban has never lost to the Vols since coming to Alabama, his cross-divisional rival has upset on its mind with at sleepy road date in Knoxville.

Interestingly enough, Alabama will have its bye on Saban’s birthday on Halloween. This will help them get ready for their toughest road game of the season vs. Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers at Death Valley the following week. LSU may not be as good as it was a year ago, but Alabama will need to play its best ball game to come out of Baton Rouge unscathed. We’ll see if that happens.

After that, Alabama closes out its regular season with three straight home dates. While a victory is certain over the UT-Martin Skyhawks, we should expect the Texas A&M Aggies and the Auburn Tigers to give the Crimson Tide all they can handle. Jimbo Fisher is another Saban disciple wanting to beat his mentor. We’ve seen Gus Malzahn beat Saban loads of times in the Iron Bowl.

Overall, there is no way the Crimson Tide goes 12-0 (8-0) this fall. If they do, then they’ll go 15-0 and win the national title. The schedule is too brutal to come out of it unscathed. 11-1 (7-1) and winning the SEC West feels right this year, but the Crimson Tide are more likely to go 10-2 (6-2) as they did last year than they are to go 12-0 (8-0) en route to Atlanta for the SEC Championship.

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