Alabama hosts South Carolina. No market line yet; the model calls it close to even.
What’s at stake
Make the CFP field
Alabama projected #11 seed
Win the conference
Win it all
CFP odds as of September 3, 2026
The series
Alabama leads the series 15-3
18 meetings since 1937 · Alabama has won the last 3
- 2025Alabama 29–22
- 2024Alabama 27–25
- 2019Alabama 47–23
- 2010South Carolina 35–21
- 2009Alabama 20–6
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
South Carolina
The chip · vs the blue bloodsGamecock fans have spent generations as the SEC's welcome mat for Georgia, Clemson, and the rest — and they wear the grievance like a badge. They'll tell you nobody fights harder for less, and that the program that should never be respected keeps refusing to go quietly.
What this game touches
The 2025 collapse. South Carolina opened 2025 ranked No. 13 with quarterback LaNorris Sellers a Heisman contender and finished 4-8 (1-7 SEC). Sellers regressed and was sacked a career-high 43 times; Shane Beamer fired his offensive coordinator mid-season and enters 2026 squarely on the hot seat. The fanbase's oldest fear — that the ceiling is real — got loud again.
Alabama
The chip · vs the national mediaEvery loss now feeds the same eulogy — that the dynasty died with Saban and DeBoer is presiding over the decline. The fanbase has heard the program written off before, and isn't ready to concede it.
What this game touches
The post-Saban altitude question. Saban retired after 2023; Kalen DeBoer went 9-4, then 11-4, reaching the 2025 Playoff but getting routed 38-3 by eventual champion Indiana in the semifinal — the first real evidence the program might be merely very good rather than supreme.
Best players
Alabama
- Deontae Lawson (LB) · 2025: 80 tackles
- Brayson Hubbard (DB) · 2025: 74 tackles
- Nikhai Hill-Green (LB) · 2025: 54 tackles
South Carolina
- Justin Okoronkwo (LB) · 2025: 63 tackles
- Fred Johnson (LB) · 2025: 62 tackles
- Lanorris Sellers (QB) · 2025: 2,437 passing yards
The line, and the room
Alabama fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (28th percentile) — the mood matches the numbers.
Conditions
Alabama is 94% at home, 79% on the road since 2018 (51-3 home, 30-8 away).