Ranking Alabama’s 6 hardest games on the 2023 schedule: No. 6
Earlier this week, ESPN released its 25 hardest schedules for the 2023 college football season. Those rankings have Alabama checking in at No. 18 while giving the Crimson Tide the tenth hardest schedule in the SEC.
With there being a total of 12 regular season games, we decided to rank the top six — or top half — of those in order of difficulty. Don’t mistake all six of the games left off for cupcakes though. There’s a reason Alabama’s schedule is considered one of the toughest in the country.
Some of the contests that didn’t make this list are tough road matchups against Mississippi State and Kentucky. There’s also a home game against Ole Miss that surprisingly didn’t make the cut. Anyways, we’ll go ahead and get things kicked off with No. 6 on my list … the Arkansas Razorbacks.
No. 6 – Arkansas (Oct. 14)
I really wanted to rank this game higher on my list, but not because I think Arkansas is going to field an elite team necessarily. Don’t get me wrong, Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks will be a formidable opponent for the Crimson Tide, but the worry for this game is more about where it falls on the schedule.
For starters, Alabama will be fresh off a three-week stretch that includes a home game against Ole Miss (Sept. 23) and road matchups against Mississippi State (Sept. 30) and Texas A&M (Oct. 7). It’s no where near the toughest gauntlet Alabama has seen, but it’ll be challenging. I’m expecting that Week 6 matchup against the Aggies to be an especially physical, hard-fought game.
Two weeks after that trip visiting Jimbo Fisher at College Station, Alabama will play Tennessee at home. The revenge factor plays in the Tide’s favor, and it’s beneficial that this year’s contest will be played inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. But even with standouts such as Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt now in the NFL, that Josh Heupel offense is going to cause headaches.
You know who’s sprinkled in between A&M and Tennessee though? You guessed it … Arkansas.
Now, it is true that the Razorbacks suffered significant losses on both sides of the football.
Defensively, it was standouts such as linebackers Drew Sanders and Bumper Pool. Those two led the team in tackles with 103 and 92, respectively. Sanders also added 13.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, an interception and three forced fumbles. There are also the losses of defensive lineman Jordan Domineck (9.5 TFL, 7.5 sacks) and standout safety Jalen Catalon, who transferred to Texas in January.
On offense, the team’s two leading receivers — Jadon Haselwood and Matt Landers — are gone after combining for 106 catches, 1,603 yards receiving and 11 scores. Plus, tight end Trey Knox (26 catches, 296 yards, 5 TD) has transferred to South Carolina. That’s a lot of size now gone, as Haselwood stands 6-foot-3, 213 pounds with Landers checking in at 6-5, 197 and Knox at 6-5, 250.
Starting offensive linemen Ricky Stromberg and Dalton Wagner are also gone.
And yet, Arkansas remains a talented team.
They’re led by one of the top returning backfields in the SEC with quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Rocket Sanders. Jefferson is going into his third year as a starter after combining for 6,628 total yards and 60 touchdowns over the past two years. Sanders finished 2022 with 1,714 total yards (second-most in the SEC) and 12 scores.
Plus, the Razorbacks have hit the transfer portal hard with close to 20 additions.
So, what’s the point I’m trying to make here?
While this Arkansas squad won’t be a preseason top-25 team, it’ll be better than people are expecting. They’re certainly good enough to cause issues if Alabama attempts to get too much of a head start preparing for Tennessee after A&M. That Kentucky road matchup following LSU will also be tough, but I think the Razorbacks will be slightly better than the Wildcats.
On the flip side, Arkansas will be coming to Tuscaloosa after this three-game stretch:
at LSU (Sept. 23)Texas A&M (Sept. 30)at Ole Miss (Oct. 7)
In other words, Alabama will be one of the most challenging games — if not the most challenging game — game on their schedule, too. I still expect this to be a sizable victory for the Crimson Tide, but they’ll need to make sure that “one game at a time” mentality is alive and well.
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