Dec 31, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) before the play call against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the fourth quarter at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

It’s no secret that the Crimson Tide always gets the best out of its opponents, no matter who they are or where the game takes place. Everyone always wants to be the Tide, making every game all the more difficult.

With the SEC moving to a new nine-game conference schedule, Alabama will have to face one more conference opponent than usual, while the three non-conference opponents will be East Carolina, Florida State and Chattanooga.

After review of the schedule, three games stick out as potential trap games for the Tide. While everyone knows a team can never get too comfortable without the risk of losing, these games more so present as potential unknown threats due to certain factors.

Sept. 12 @ Kentucky

After two straight losing seasons under Mark Stoops, the Wildcats made the decision to move on, choosing to hire Oregon’s Will Stein, who served as the offensive coordinator in Eugene for the past three seasons.

In 2023, Stein led the Ducks’ offense to a highly productive season with quarterback Bo Nix, as the team ranked No. 2 in the nation for total offense at 526.6 yards per game. Oregon then went 13-1, winning the Big 10 and leading the conference at yards per game at 448.5 in 2024. Stein then led Oregon to the semifinals of the playoffs while averaging 465.2 yards per game in 2025.

Once he arrived in Lexington, he went to work in the transfer portal to do what he could to ensure that the Wildcats would have one of the most lethal offenses in college football by acquiring talent from all over the country.

Stein secured Notre Dame transfer quarterback Kenny Minchey to lead the offense, and he looked good through the spring, too. Also in the backfield, Kentucky landed two talented tailbacks in Texas’ CJ Baxter and Oklahoma’s Javontae Barnes.

The Wildcats added up front with the addition of seven new offensive linemen, which includes Olaus Alinen, who decided to transfer out of Tuscaloosa. They also added six receivers, headlined by former Oklahoma and LSU wideout Nic Anderson.

Kentucky made some key additions to its defense, though, and should be fairly solid on that side of the ball as well. With the Tide’s conference opener coming just two weeks into the season against a new team, things could get a little scary.

Sept. 26 vs. South Carolina

The last two matchups against the Gamecocks haven’t gone as well as Alabama would have liked them to. Over the past two seasons, the Crimson Tide has only beaten South Carolina by a combined total of 11 points.

Alabama hosted South Carolina in 2023 for a game many Tide fans may still remember vividly. A botched onside kick ultimately left the Gamecocks with a chance to win, albeit a relatively lower one, right until the clock expired.

When the Crimson Tide made the trip to Columbia to face a 3-4 South Carolina team, the hope was that Alabama would see a much smoother victory, potentially one reminiscent of the Tide’s last trip there, which was a 47-23 victory in 2014.

Instead, South Carolina gave the Tide much more trouble than anticipated, forcing Alabama to claw its way back into the game and win by scoring twice within the final two minutes and 16 seconds that were left in the fourth quarter.

While Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks won’t look all too different for 2026, still being led by quarterback LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina will always put up a fight, with the ability to get lethal in an instant whenever “Beamer Ball” gets going.