Happy Monday, everyone. After opening the series at South Carolina with a resounding run-rule victory, the softball team dropped the last two of the series and ended up seeded 11th in the SEC tournament. Baseball dropped two of three at Vanderbilt and are 13-11 in SEC play with two series left, vs Georgia and Florida.
Mark Ingram was voted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame this weekend.
MARK INGRAM II: FOOTBALL | Born December 21, 1989, in Hackensack, NJ. In his first season as a running back at the University of Alabama, Ingram was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. In his sophomore year, he was named a consensus All-American and was the offensive MVP in their national championship victory over Texas. Ingram won the Heisman Trophy in his sophomore season, the first in the history of the University of Alabama football. He was drafted 28th overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 NFL Draft. Ingram also played with the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans before finishing his 12-year career back in New Orleans. He was named to three Pro Bowls and finished his career with 10,236 total yards and 75 total touchdowns.
Congratulations to Mark on a well deserved honor.
USA Today staff has Kalen DeBoer ranked 8th among active coaches.
8. Kalen DeBoer (Alabama)
DeBoer’s Alabama tenure endured a bumpy debut, but didn’t we all expect that replacing Saban would be a unique challenge? DeBoer proved himself a winner at one coaching stop after another, particularly once Year 2 arrives. Pencil him in for at least nine wins annually. He’s recruiting well, albeit not at Saban levels. To curry favor from Alabama fans, his team must play with more discipline and consistency.
Connor O’Gara of SDS thinks that there are a few metrics that DeBoer’s detractors overlook, including this one.
28.1
Take away non-offensive scores and that was how many points Alabama averaged per SEC game in Year 1 of the DeBoer era. Why bring that up? Well, that was No. 1 in the SEC in 2024. Yes, it was a down year for SEC offenses, and yes, it was a down year for DeBoer’s offense based on his track record. But think about that. Nobody in the 16-team SEC averaged more points per conference game than the Tide offense if you take away non-offensive scores (which you always should).
Think that was flukey? If you look at yards/play vs. SEC competition, DeBoer’s offense finished No. 2 in the conference. Mind you, that was with Jalen Milroe regressing in the latter half of SEC play. The Tide’s passing game was a disaster by season’s end, it didn’t exactly have a vintage ground game, and it still hit 27 points in 6 of 8 SEC games.
That should be considered a floor season for the DeBoer offense. It wasn’t an ideal fit in his scheme, and yet it still did things that had plenty of success against SEC offenses.
247sports has Alabama ranked 8th in their way too early top 25.
8. Alabama Crimson Tide (110)
Alabama has the two-deep to buck last season’s disappointment and get to the SEC Championship Game and CFP. The Tide are anchored by standouts in the secondary, advanced weaponry at wide receiver and a pass rush featuring a couple of future NFL Draft picks. Anything shy of a playoff appearance in Year 2 under Kalen DeBoer would further widen the gap between him and his predecessor. Former Miami receiver Isaiah Horton was a major roster addition, and keeping the trio of quarterbacks — Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell — intact post-spring is a great sign for the Crimson Tide. Bringing in former NFL coordinator Ryan Grubb to call plays means DeBoer has his right-hand man back on the sideline after the two managed great success at their previous stop with Washington.
Last, Alabama basketball will face Yale this season.
Alabama men’s basketball has added Yale to its nonconference schedule, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported Saturday. The date has not yet been announced or reported.
It will mark the first time since 2008 that the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide have faced each other. Alabama won that game 66-63 at Coleman Coliseum.
Yale more recently faced Auburn in the NCAA Tournament in 2024. The No. 13 seeded Bulldogs defeated the No. 4 seeded Tigers 78-76 in the first round. Holloway, a guard on that Auburn team, is heading into his second year with the Crimson Tide after transferring from the Plains following his freshman season.
Emphasis mine, and I can’t stress it enough.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
