These 3 games could be traps for Alabama football in 2026

In each of the past two seasons, Alabama football has fallen into a trap game. The Crimson Tide dropped at Florida State last season, a year after it lost on the road at Vanderbilt. Entering Kalen DeBoer’s third season as head coach, UA will be looking to clean up its issues in games where it is favored. However, here’s a look at three games Alabama shouldn’t overlook as the 2026 schedule approaches. Last time the Crimson Tide traveled to Lexington, Nick Saban’s final team dismantled the Wildcats 49-21. Those were different times for both teams, with Mark Stoops still in charge at UK. Kentucky fired Stoops after a disappointing 2025. Replacing the man who was likely UK’s best coach since Bear Bryant but had grown stale in recent seasons is Will Stein, who promises a far more fun offense. Stein joins up after a stint as the offensive coordinator at Oregon. Stein’s roster-building early in his tenure has earned positive reviews, and Wildcat fans are excited entering his first season. On Sept. 12, Alabama will travel to Kroger Field, for Kentucky’s first SEC game under its new head coach. For Stein, upsetting the Crimson Tide would be a huge way to begin his tenure, the kind of win that will keep a fan base energized even if the season goes bad later on. The fact that the game is early in the season could make it tricky for Alabama. Stein could opt to leave much of his offense shrouded in mystery the previous week against Youngstown State, something that could lead to some difficulty for the Crimson Tide defense. This happened last year. In what would go down as the Crimson Tide’s worst performance of the year, at least until it met Indiana in the Rose Bowl, Alabama went to Tallahassee to open the season and got beat. Quarterback Tommy Castellanos famously added insult to injury afterward. Before the game, Castellanos talked trash for much of the offseason, and after the Seminoles won, he released merchandise to commemorate the moment. Sept. 19, the week after Kentucky game, FSU will have to make the return trip. And given that not much has gone right since the Alabama win last year, Mike Norvell and company could already be desperate. Some things have changed. Castellanos is gone, replaced by Ashton Daniels, and former offensive coordinator and longtime Alabama killer Gus Malzahn retired this offseason. Given that the game is at Bryant-Denny Stadium, this one seems like the least likely trap game, especially given that Alabama will be looking for revenge. However, overlooking FSU again could prove disastrous. Yes, Alabama has to return to Vanderbilt this year for the first time since it lost to the Commodores in Nashville during the 2024 season. No, that doesn’t make this list, as Vanderbilt’s rise in recent years has made it so it can no longer be accurately described as a trap matchup. Mississippi State is a different story. Entering his third season in charge, Jeff Lebby has improved the Bulldogs compared to the results under Zach Arnett, but MSU has not become a power. On Oct. 3, Alabama will travel to Starkville for the first time since 2023. The place on the schedule will make it an easy game to overlook if the Crimson Tide isn’t careful. The week before, it will face South Carolina to begin the meat of its SEC schedule. The week after, Alabama will host Georgia, a game that could play a major role in the race to Atlanta for the conference championship. Whether Mississippi State will be good enough to cause Alabama any real problems is yet to be seen. However, Davis Wade Stadium is a tough place to play, and the Bulldogs will be hungry to take down the Crimson Tide for the first time since 2007.