Jumbo Package: Is Spring Football here yet?

Auburn retained its spot at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll Monday for a sixth consecutive week after a road win Saturday over No. 2 Alabama. The Tigers, whose unanimous standing at No. 1 ended last week after a three-poll stint, earned all but one first-place vote to near unanimous status once again, with Florida earning the final first-place vote.

The Gators rose to No. 2, their highest mark in the AP poll since 2014, after beating No. 1 Auburn a week ago and beating Mississippi State and South Carolina this week. Meanwhile last week’s No. 2, Alabama, fell two spots to No. 4 after a 94-85 home loss to Auburn.

#4 in the country is far from a bad place to be, though that also being #3 in the SEC is pretty funny. When did Florida get so good, by the way? Feels like they just snuck up out of nowhere lately.

Oh, and don’t forget Kentucky!

Something awesome is happening for Alabama basketball this week, baby!

ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale will be on the call for the No. 3 Crimson Tide this week.

After Alabama (21-4, 10-2 SEC) makes a mid-week trip to Missouri, it returns to Coleman Coliseum to face Kentucky on Saturday, when “Dickie V” is set to commentate this season’s rematch between Nate Oats and Mark Pope.

Vitale always brings a level of fun energy to any basketball game, so getting him in for the matchup with the SEC’s historic best is a big deal – especially with it only being his second game back after 2 years off from announcing due to cancer.

Moving to football, Alabama will FINALLY be playing Georgia in Athens this year.

As Schlabach points out, Smart is 1-6 in his time against Alabama. It’s the only program that has consistently given him trouble, as Smart is 104-13 against the other schools he has faced during his nine years in Athens.

However, this year’s contest will be different from the previous seven in that it is the first that will be played in Athens between the two schools. The last time Alabama visited Athens came back in 2015 when Smart was still Alabama’s defensive coordinator.

Alabama came away with a 38-10 win that day. Georgia does have the nation’s longest home winning streak, as the Bulldogs have won 31 consecutive games in Sanford Stadium, Georgia’s last home loss came against South Carolina in 2019.

Kirby Smart being Alabama’s DC the last time they played in Athens is crazy. Feels like a lifetime has passed since then. I was actually planning to go to that game, but wound up coming down sick the day before and didn’t go, which, considering the rain, felt like a pretty good choice at the time.

ESPN published a big piece on every top-25 team’s most “season-defining” game. Chris Low was the spokesperson for Alabama, and he pegged the upcoming matchup vs Tennessee.

Alabama faces some key games the first half of the season, including a trip to Georgia on Sept. 27, but the so-called must-win game in 2025 is the Oct. 18 home matchup against Tennessee, aka the Third Saturday in October. The last thing Kalen DeBoer wants in his second season at Alabama is to lose back-to-back games to a rival the Crimson Tide have dominated for much of the past two decades. The Vols have won two of the past three games in the series. But that’s after Alabama won 15 in a row under Nick Saban. Tennessee last won back-to-back games in this rivalry in 2003-04. The game also comes at a point in the season when Alabama needs to be playing its best football. It is sandwiched between trips to Missouri on Oct. 11 and South Carolina on Oct. 25, and following the game against the Gamecocks, Alabama gets a bye before taking on LSU at home. In short, it’s difficult to see the Crimson Tide making the playoff if they lose at home to the Vols. — Low

I think I agree with him on this one. Losing to Tennessee for a second year in a row would be a huge blow.

The term “true freshman” just doesn’t equate the same in the current makeup of CFB. The days of cagey high schoolers making the step-up are almost a thing of the past. No more cagey, only courageous. Athletes now are ready off the cuff. Bama’s own Ryan William is a testament to this. In fact, Ryan Williams’ taking to college like a duck to water presents Kalen DeBoer with a conundrum. Start 5-star Keelon Russell from the onset, or keep him away from the deep end as he learns his ropes? One one end, DeBoer’s job security is under threat. He needs results in the immediate. Thrusting a true freshman into the lineup is reciprocal to that. On the other, Russell is likely the most talented player in the quarterback room. It’s a dilemma, alright.

I usually try to avoid linking anything from Essentially Sports in protest of their annoying click bait headlines on articles… but it’s a slow news days and this one was one of the only decent-ish opinion pieces out there. Feel free to not give it a click.

In any case, I figured it was as good a day as any to kick up some QB debating. With Keelon Russell recently getting those final ratings bumps that push him to an even higher ranking status than Bryce Young was, he could very well be the guy to be THE guy from day 1.

Call it a pre-spring prediction, who do you think will take the most snaps as a starter for Alabama in 2025?