Alabama football gives fans what they want, schedules home-and-home with Wisconsin

Alabama football isn’t afraid of any team in the country but it has shied away from scheduling home-and-homes. The Tide changed that on Monday.

Surprised to see Alabama football take on a home-and-home with an above average Power Five opponent? You should be because it doesn’t happen all that often.

Sure, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Texas and Oklahoma are all in the works for almost a decade from now, but there’s a matchup that will take place sooner than the other three.

Alabama and Wisconsin have reportedly reached a deal which on a home-and-home series that’ll take place in 2024 and 2025.

Will Nick Saban still be the head coach of Alabama in 2024? It’s possible, but chances are he’ll be retired by then after having won two more national titles. What about Paul Chryst? If Wisconsin keeps winning the Big Ten West and 10-plus games regularly, he’ll be scooped up by a bigger program — not that Madison is a bad place to coach.

But Wisconsin has been able to get Alabama to do something that it usually passes up on and that deserves some type of recognition.

No, this isn’t the same as a home-and-home with a team like Ohio State or Oklahoma or Washington, but the Badgers have had plenty of success over the years and depending on the outlook of both programs five years from now, Wisconsin could put Alabama on upset alert.

Not long ago, the Crimson Tide backed out of a home-and-home with Saban’s old program, Michigan State, which was a real head-scratcher and that would have been an intriguing matchup with Mark Dantonio facing his old coach in his old home stadium, but if Alabama backs out this time, there will be plenty of harsh criticisms.

Alabama isn’t scared of playing anyone anywhere, and this needs to be the chance to prove that.