Paul Finebaum doesn't believe the Alabama Crimson Tide is in the right space to be able to afford playing a home-and-home series against the Ohio State Buckeyes that's currently scheduled for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.
Finebaum sees University of Alabama AD Greg Byrne pulling the plug on the Ohio State series because of Kalen DeBoer's current shaky standing after amassing just one CFP win on his record after two years in Tuscaloosa.
Interestingly enough, Finebaum sees the Georgia Bulldogs being more willing to honor their commitment for a 2030 and 2031 home-and-home series than the Crimson Tide is in the second and third seasons of a nine-game SEC schedule.
“I sincerely doubt the Alabama game is going to happen based on what I’ve heard from Alabama’s AD,” Finebaum said on 97.1 The Fan. “He’s got a shaky situation there anyway with a coach that is in trouble. Georgia might do it because they’re a little more in-tune and aligned, but I really don’t think we’re going to go too far and see those games. I know what Ross Bjork has said, and I know what [Chris] Del Conte has said and other ADs have said, but the reality is that the ninth SEC game is going to be very costly for a lot of programs.”
Kalen DeBoer may not survive in Tuscaloosa until 2027 to play Ohio State anyway
Realistically, DeBoer probably won't be in place for that series with OSU, if it even happens. Things look far more likely to get worse in West Central Alabama than they would get better. Hell, the Tide doesn't have a good idea yet of who their QB1 will be during the 2026 season. It'll either be the inexperienced three-star Washington Huskies transfer DeBoer brought over, Austin Mack, or a redshirt freshman in Keelon Russell, who got 15 pass attempts in 2025 to show this stuff.
That decision will be heavily scrutinized, as will the potential defensive slippage after losing several impact transfers, like Qua Russaw and James Smith, who both chose the Buckeyes in the portal in January. There have been two years of heavy scrutiny at a university that previously set the standard for winning in College Football, the "Bama Standard."
Can DeBoer survive another year? Probably not. Ohio State fans need not worry about DeBoer either way, but if any program is likely to back away from a challenge, it's Alabama. The Tide won't even play the Group of 5 schools in their state. Why would they step up to one of the sport's most financially equipped blue bloods, especially in the wake of the SEC's schedule moving to nine games in 2026?