Alabama football: Realistic post-spring expectations for 2023

When you think of Alabama football, you think of national championships and SEC titles. You also think of NFL draft picks and legendary head coach Nick Saban.

Well, Saban is on a little bit of a national title drought, per his standards.

It’s weird to say that two seasons in a row without a national title is a drought, but when you’re Saban, that’s the case. He’s raised the bar so high for Alabama and it’s almost impossible for him to meet his own standards regularly.

After a “disappointing” 11-2 season, the Tide are losing Bryce Young and Jahmyr Gibbs who were both selected in the first round of the NFL draft. The defense is also losing a number of key players, led by Will Anderson Jr.

But Alabama just reloads.

The biggest question mark after spring ball is not the run game or the defense, it’s the quarterback. Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson didn’t exactly dazzle fans during the spring game so Saban went out and landed Tyler Buchner from Notre Dame who already has a relationship with new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

Will this increase expectations to national title levels again? We’ll see.

Realistic post-spring expectations for Alabama football

As long as the quarterback position shakes itself out and Saban finds himself a guy that can give him 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns with minimal turnovers, the Tide will field arguably the best team in college football.

Looking at the schedule, the “sure” wins for this Alabama team are Middle Tennessee, USF, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Kentucky, Chattanooga, and Auburn. The games that I lean win for Alabama are Texas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and LSU. Realistically, the Tide lose a game that everyone expects them to win and they finish 11-1.

I think 12-0 is entirely possible, but 11-1 is my most realistic prediction for this squad.