2. Alabama will have an easy schedule
To put it bluntly, I don’t see how the Crimson Tide could possibly lose more than one game in the regular season. The majority of their schedule is set in stone every season, but the variance is easier than it has ever been. While many teams are playing Notre Dame or Clemson outside of the conference, the Tide’s toughest non-conference game is against Duke, a struggling ACC team without their starting quarterback from last year.
The other variance in the schedule is who the team has to play from the SEC East. They have to play Tennessee every year, but their other game will be on the road against South Carolina. No disrespect to the Gamecocks, but this is a lot easier than having to travel to Gainesville or Athens.
The only other thing to look at is which SEC West games are at home. LSU, Alabama’s toughest opponent, will have to come to Bryant-Denny Stadium. Their hardest road games will be against Texas A&M, Auburn, and Mississippi State. A&M is getting better, but there are tougher opponents they could have played. Mississippi State won’t be a great team in my eyes, but it will always be hard to play in their stadium with all of the cowbells ringing.
The one game that might worry Alabama fans is when the Tide have to go to Auburn for the Iron Bowl. No one is really sure how good the Tigers will be, but some weird stuff always seems to happen in Auburn. The last time Alabama played in Auburn, they lost. Of course, both of these teams are completely different from where they were two seasons ago, but there are still a lot of things that have to be sorted out before Alabama can be confident in this game.
Despite the Iron Bowl being played on the road, Alabama’s path to the College Football Playoff will be easier than the path for just about any other team in the country.