Alabama football had a stronger chance than ever to make it to the College Football Playoff in 2024 with the new 12-team Playoff format. 

The Crimson Tide got snubbed out of CFP following their three regular season losses.

This is precisely why head coach Kalen DeBoer looks forward to opening the following season on a non-conference schedule.  

“We’re at eight right now, and so this next year with Florida State as the opener and then a couple of weeks later with Wisconsin, it’s a good, competitive schedule,” DeBoer said ahead of the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

“That’s what we want leading into conference play. So that’s the way we want it. We wanna be challenged and be tested going into SEC action.”

Alabama will also welcome ULM to Tuscaloosa in the week between Florida State and Wisconsin. SEC competitors line up the schedule after that.

The 2025 season demands the best from DeBoer and his team with the sole expectation of making it to CFP, especially when they have a “realistic path” to it. 

Optimistically, the Tide head coach already feels “a lot different.”

“I appreciate what our staff is doing, what our players are doing to really look inward, work together and continue to move forward. There’s a lot of good things already happening. It already feels just a lot different internally as we turn the page into 2025,” the Tide head coach added, according to The Tuscaloosa News.

If that fails, DeBoer will look down the barrel of scathing hot-seat talks from fans and analysts.