Nate Oats is giving Alabama a preseason test with some real bite.
The Crimson Tide’s third straight appearance in Birmingham’s Boutwell Arena exhibition will come against Ole Miss, setting up an SEC-on-SEC matchup for this year’s “Ballin in Boutwell” event. Alabama played Wake Forest in the exhibition’s first year in 2024, then beat Florida State in last season’s expanded version that also included other in-state programs such as Auburn.
This time, Oats has gone in a different direction. The matchup was revealed Thursday, and Alabama will tip off against the Rebels at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct.
- It will be the first look at the 2026-27 Crimson Tide.
There’s no mystery about why this one stands out. Alabama already saw Chris Beard’s team twice last season, winning by 19 on the road in Oxford before dropping a one-point SEC Tournament quarterfinal in Nashville. That second meeting is the kind of result that sticks, and it gives this exhibition a little extra edge even before the games count.
Oats has built a reputation for leaning into tough, unusual setups in nonconference play, always looking for ways to harden his team before SEC season arrives. This fits that mold perfectly. It’s a preseason game, sure, but it also gives Alabama an early snapshot of what life in league play could feel like in 2026-27.
And there’s plenty for Tide fans to watch. Alabama is expected to be one of the SEC’s top teams again, with Amari Allen and Aden Holloway back to anchor the backcourt. Oats also brought in four blue-chip recruits and addressed frontcourt needs that were a problem last season.
No one should pretend an exhibition tells the whole story. But this one should have a different kind of energy. It has the feel of an SEC game, the kind that can sharpen a team fast, and it should give the Birmingham crowd something worth showing up for.
In Other News...
Alabama's Defense Just Got Hit With A Wild New Level Of Disrespect
Alabamas defensive picture for 2026 already looks like the sort of group that usually gets the benefit of the doubt. The Tide are bringing back key pieces and adding more help around a unit that was strong a season ago, with returning and incoming defenders giving the roster a deeper, more versatile feel heading into the next cycle.
Still, the early national conversation has not matched that optimism. One prominent ranking of college footballs best defenses for 2026 left Alabama outside the top tier, a placement that feels hard to square with the talent on hand and the way this group is expected to build on last years foundation. For a program that expects its defense to travel, the message is clear enough: the Tide may have more proving to do than anyone in Tuscaloosa thought. [Read more 🡒]
Dante Moore Just Put The Iron Bowl In Rare Company
A little rivalry talk from Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has a familiar Alabama angle to it, and it is the kind of answer that always gets attention in this part of the country. Moore, one of the cover athletes for EA Sports College Football 2027, named Alabama vs. Auburn among his top three college football rivalries, putting the Iron Bowl in the same conversation with Michigan vs. Ohio State and Oregon vs. Washington.
Moores inclusion of the Iron Bowl only adds to the sense that the game still sits in a tier all its own, even for a player whose own rivalry stock has risen after Oregons recent win over Washington. The Ducks and Huskies are set to meet again on November 28, and for Alabama fans, it is another reminder that when people start ranking the sports biggest showdowns, Auburns annual collision with the Tide remains impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
The 5 In-State Recruiting Misses Alabama Fans Still Hate Most
Alabamas recruiting footprint has long been strong enough that every major in-state miss still feels like a what-if worth revisiting, especially when the player in question ends up starring somewhere else. Over the past decade, the Tide have watched a handful of high-profile Alabama prospects leave the state for other powers, and those decisions have only grown more frustrating in hindsight because of the roles those players went on to play on the biggest stages.
The list gets even more painful when you trace where some of those talents landed and how their careers unfolded. One ended up at Clemson before becoming a first-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, while another chose Oregon and gave Alabama fans yet another reminder that the in-state battle can still slip away even when the Tide are involved from the start. [Read more 🡒]