Ranking Alabama’s 2022 football schedule based on ‘Excitement Factor’
Alabama football’s 2022 schedule is loaded with exciting SEC games and an interesting non-conference game that will send the Crimson tIde to Austin, Texas. Overall, there are plenty of reasons for Alabama fans to look forward to all 12 games on the schedule for the upcoming season.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what happens on the field. There are contests that some would expect to be boring, but turn out to be a thriller. Take the 2021 Iron Bowl for example, or even the 2018 Alabama game against The Citadel at home, where the score was tied at halftime.
The upcoming 2022 schedule features games that will showcase some amazing talent on the gridiron and others that come with some serious baggage. Here are how we rank them.
Austin Peay
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Reason: This game is last on this list for a reason. If I’m being honest, it’s a toss-up between Austin Peay and UL-Monroe for the last spot. Austin Peay lands at No. 12 because it is late in the season and Crimson Tide fans will be focused on the Iron Bowl, which will be the following week, and potentially the SEC championship.
UL-Monroe
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Reason: Please refer back to the Austin Peay reasoning to understand why UL-Monroe ranks No. 11. The one thing helping this game’s excitement factor is that it’s early in the season, will be following the highly anticipated Texas game and is the last non-SEC matchup for a few months.
Utah State
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Reason: Does a reason even need to be provided for this one? It’s the first game of the season for an Alabama team that lost in the national championship game. This is the first opportunity fans, other programs and analysts will have to see the Crimson Tide in action. It’s also the first season-opening contest Alabama will have in a non-neutral site in quite some time.
Mississippi State
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Reason: The first SEC game cracks the list. Mike Leach seems to be having his team trend in the right direction, but it’s not enough to appear competitive in the preseason and there aren’t any storylines to follow as of yet leading up to this game. Not to say fans won’t be excited for it, but there are other highly-anticipated matchups on the schedule.
Vanderbilt
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Reason: The last time these two teams squared off was early on in the 2017 season. It was the first time anyone had seen Tua Tagovailoa take the field as a member of the Crimson Tide, which was exciting in the moment. Vanderbilt, though now under a new head coach, seems to be stuck at the bottom of the conference. Alabama hung up 59 points in the 2017 matchup, while not allowing a single point. That game was on the road. Now back in Tuscaloosa, fans will be excited to see how many points this high-powered offense will be able to put up.
LSU
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Reason: It’s always an exciting atmosphere when these two teams face off. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it hasn’t been competitive since the Joe Burrow-led 2019 season. LSU is now coaches by Brian Kelly, formerly of Notre Dame. While it will be a bit of a welcoming party for Kelly, there’s nothing that particularly stands out about this matchup over others lower on the list.
Auburn
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Reason: The 2021 Iron Bowl had every football-watching Alabamian on the edge of their seats. Scratch that, the entire college football world. Bryan Harsin had quite the offseason but will be returning for a second season at Auburn. Though the War Eagle Tigers gave Alabama a four-overtime scare on the road last season, this one’s in Tuscaloosa. If we are basing the excitement factor off of last year’s contest, this is a top-three matchup. However, it’s not expected to be as close as it was in 2021.
Ole Miss
(AP Photo/Bruce Newman)
Reason: Lane Kiffin. Most fans still have their popcorn ready from last year’s meeting between these two teams. While this isn’t expected to be the most competitive game, Kiffin loves doing the unexpected, which is always exciting. He’ll hope to follow in Jimbo Fisher and Kirby Smart’s footsteps and try to be the third former Saban assistant to defeat him.
Arkansas
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Reason: Sam Pittman has this team on the rise. The Razorbacks are no longer just another SEC team, but an in-conference competitor for the Crimson Tide. Gone are the days that this game is overlooked by Alabama fans. Despite some talent lost to the NFL draft, Arkansas is a program capable of putting up a fight. This is a game where excitement isn’t built off of storylines, but talent on the field an some solid coaching.
Tennessee
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Reason: Every Alabama fan looks forward to the Third Saturday in October. However, as seen last season, Josh Heupel may have the Volunteers heading down the right path. Tennessee didn’t seem all too afraid of the Crimson Tide last season, let’s see what a talented roster can do with a second-year head coach itching to make the program better.
Texas
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Reason: There are so many reasons as to why this game will be exciting. It’s on the road in Austin, Steve Sarkisian faces off against Saban, numerous players that transferred out of Alabama joined the Longhorns and it’s two of the biggest brands in all of college football squaring off in an early regular season game. The outcome of this contest will reshape the College Football Playoff picture one way or another in Week 2.
Texas A&M
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Reason: The game comes secondary to the beef between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. Sure, this game was already highly anticipated because of the upset Texas A&M pulled off in Kyle Field last season. However, the NIL feud between Saban and Jimbo has everyone wondering how the two former colleagues will react to seeing each other on the field.
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