Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer urges caution as the SEC considers adding a ninth conference football game. Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Alabama Coach Urges Caution on SEC's 9th Football Game Amid Playoff Concerns

Originally posted on CFB-HQ on SI | By James Parks | Last updated May 27, 2025 7:05 PM ET

We could see the SEC adopt a nine-game conference football schedule, a central topic of discussion at this week’s spring meetings.

And while some coaches and administrators have expressed support for the idea, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is taking a more cautious stance.

“You kind of wonder what would have happened if other people had the chance to play our schedule last year,” DeBoer said. “And that would only get tougher.”

Alabama, like many SEC teams, plays a more daunting schedule than most football programs, emerging with an underwhelming 9-4 record in DeBoer’s first season replacing Nick Saban on the sideline.

That was the Crimson Tide’s first four-loss season in 17 years, since back in 2007, when Saban made his debut.

Alabama’s signature victory over future SEC champion Georgia was a key building block moment for DeBoer’s tenure, but costly losses to Tennessee, and then to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, the latter two against teams that placed in the bottom half of the SEC standings, hurt the team’s playoff chances.

DeBoer didn’t place the blame for Alabama’s missing the playoff on the schedule, but noted some concern with how the all-important strength of schedule metric will be viewed by the selection committee as the playoff format is expected to expand, with SEC support.

“You certainly have to look at those things as it applies if you play nine regular season games that are all in the SEC,” DeBoer said.

“The question I have is: How do you understand what the strength of schedule is from conference to conference? It’s pretty easy with other sports... you have all these non-conference games. That’s beyond me to figure out. I’m just going to play the games we schedule and adjust accordingly as we change.”

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey echoed similar concerns about adding another conference football game out of concern that it might imperil the league’s standing come playoff selection time.

Both he and DeBoer agree that SEC teams should play as tough a schedule as possible, but only if they’re rewarded for it in the postseason.