ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum says Alabama’s planned home-and-home football series against Ohio State in 2027 and 2028 looks less and less likely to happen.
In a recent interview with 97.1 The Fan, Finebaum stated that it is difficult for the Crimson Tide to host one of the top non-conference games in the sport given their present financial and competitive circumstances.
Finebaum thinks Greg Byrne, the athletic director at Alabama, will put risk management ahead of early games against elite opponents since the SEC is scheduled to switch to a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2026.
“From what I’ve heard from Alabama’s AD, I genuinely doubt the Alabama game will take place,” Finebaum stated. “In any case, he’s in a precarious situation with a troubled coach.”
After a 2025 season that featured a Rose Bowl defeat by Indiana and an opening-season loss to Florida situation, Finebaum has publicly criticized second-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, calling the program’s current situation “daunting.” He described how growing fan annoyance has escalated.
Even though Finebaum still calls DeBoer a successful coach, he has questioned if his presence and leadership style live up to Alabama’s historically harsh standards set by Nick Saban. Elite non-conference matchups are also perilous from a competitive standpoint due to the SEC’s enlarged schedule.
With a 124-20 record in his ten seasons as head coach, DeBoer finished 9-4 in his first season at Alabama in 2024 and 11-4 the previous season. However, Finebaum continues to feel that the Ohio State series is vulnerable due to program uncertainty.
Should the game be postponed, it would be yet another indication of how drastically scheduling is evolving as conference expansion changes the face of college football.
