The SEC has set Alabama’s next road trip in stone.
The Crimson Tide will head to Vanderbilt in Week 11 of the 2026 season, with kickoff scheduled for 11:45 a.m. CT on Nov.
- The game will air on SEC Network, making it just the second time this season Alabama will not be on ABC.
It will also be Alabama’s second visit to Nashville in three years after the 2024 trip that ended with the program’s first loss to Vanderbilt in 40 years. This year’s meeting comes with Alabama at 6-2 overall and 4-2 in SEC play.
Both teams are coming off byes in Week 9. Alabama returned from its break with a 31-20 win over Texas A&M on Oct. 24, a game in which Keelon Russell threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to push the Tide past the Aggies. Vanderbilt’s last outing was a 34-17 loss to Kentucky on Oct. 24 at Kroger Field in Lexington, leaving the Commodores at 3-5 overall and 0-5 in the SEC.
The matchup will be the 88th meeting between the programs. Alabama leads the all-time series 64-19-4 and beat Vanderbilt 30-14 in the last meeting on Oct. 4, 2025 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Before that trip to Nashville, Alabama has another major test ahead. The Tide face LSU in Week 10 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Saturday, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m.
CT on ABC. Alabama is No. 9 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25, while LSU is No.
Alabama’s 2026 schedule so far includes wins over East Carolina, Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Texas A&M, along with losses to Georgia and Tennessee. After LSU and Vanderbilt, the Tide will host Chattanooga on Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+ before closing the regular season against Auburn on Nov. 28.
In Other News...
Philip Rivers Could Leave Alabama For A Job That Changes Two Programs
Philip Rivers has built a second football life in Alabama, coaching at St. Michael Catholic High School while guiding his son Gunner, a committed NC State quarterback, through the next step of his career. Now the former NFL quarterback and NC State standout has surfaced as a leading candidate to take over the Wolfpack program after Dave Doeren was fired, a development that ties his current Alabama stop directly to a job with major meaning in Raleigh.
For Alabama fans who have watched Rivers settle into the high school game, the possibility carries an unusual ripple effect because it could pull him away from the state and into a role that would reshape both programs. Rivers has already shown respect for NC State and has drawn NFL head-coaching interest before, but this opening comes with a different kind of pull, one that would put father, son and alma mater on the same collision course. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama May Get A Massive Defensive Boost Before LSU
Alabamas run defense took a noticeable hit after defensive tackle Terrance Green was injured in the Georgia game, and the timing could hardly have been worse for a front that has been dealing with injuries in recent weeks. Green has been a key interior piece for the Crimson Tide, and his absence showed up in the way opponents were able to lean on the ground game as the season wore on.
Now there is at least some optimism that help is on the way before LSU comes to town. Green is reportedly expected to return in time for that matchup, which would give Alabama a much-needed boost in the middle and restore some stability to a defensive front that has been stretched thin. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Suddenly Has A Surprising Role In Alabamas SEC Drama
Alabamas playoff margin is getting thinner by the week, and Paul Finebaum said the stakes of the upcoming road trip to LSU are hard to overstate. With the Crimson Tide already carrying a weaker non-conference schedule, the value of their best early resume win has also been complicated by Florida States recent coaching change, which only adds to the pressure on every remaining SEC test.
Finebaum also pointed to Kentucky as an unexpected piece of the larger picture, another result Alabama has reason to watch closely while trying to keep its own path to the College Football Playoff alive. In a conference race where Alabama and LSU are being measured against one another, the Wildcats performance could end up shaping how the playoff conversation looks around the Tide, even before the league's biggest games finish sorting themselves out. [Read more 🡒]