College football analyst says Tennessee is biggest game on Vols' top SEC rival's schedule

Fox Sports' Joel Klatt thinks the biggest game on the Alabama Crimson Tide's schedule in 2025 is against the Tennessee Vols on October 18. 

Klatt explained his reasoning this week while discussing why he believes Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is facing a fair amount of pressure entering his second season in Tuscaloosa. 

“If you’re losing to Tennessee, you probably lost to Georgia,” said Klatt. “So that would be your second loss. It would be your second loss in the SEC and then you still have to go to South Carolina, and then host LSU. If you were to just lose to Tennessee, who doesn’t have Nico Iamaleava, and now you’re about to go play LaNorris Sellers and Garrett Nussemeier....you still play to play Oklahoma, you still have the Iron Bowl."

"Let's say they lose a close one to Georgia, but then lose a home game to Tennessee, now all of a sudden, you would likely have to run the table in order to avoid a 9-3 finish," added Klatt. "And we saw what 9-3 did last year, even in the SEC.”

Tennessee hasn't won a game in Tuscaloosa since 2003. That alone would likely lead to Alabama fans losing some patience with DeBoer. 

And as Klatt notes, it would probably mean that the Crimson Tide are on their way to a 9-3 season (or worse). If the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff taught us anything, it's that an SEC team most likely needs to win at least 10 games in the regular season to secure a spot in the tournament. 

Missing the playoff for a second straight season could be deemed as unacceptable at Alabama. I don't think it would lead to DeBoer getting fired, but it would almost certainly mean that he'd enter the 2026 season squarely on the hot seat.