Former Alabama player says where Tide stands in SEC shows strength of conference

Nov 29, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Alabama defensive lineman Edric Hill (94) celebrates an Alabama fumble recovery at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Alabama defeated Auburn 27-20. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News

AJ McCarron, a former Alabama quarterback, is not buying the narrative that the SEC is inferior to the Big Ten.

The Crimson Tide was projected to finish sixth in the conference by media members at the 2026 SEC Media Days. McCarron used this prediction to defend where the conference stands on “The Dynasty Podcast.”

“I will take another mindset to this and kind of use everybody that’s downplaying Alabama in the SEC, because usually when they downplay Alabama… they’re the same people and same group that are saying, ‘oh, the SEC is not the top conference,'” McCarron said. “Well, I would turn it around on you and say, if Bama’s listed sixth in the SEC, that’s a pretty damn good conference, is what I’d say. That’d be like if all of a sudden Ohio State is down to sixth in the Big Ten. Well, I’d say, damn, Big Ten’s pretty damn good this year, right? Like, so you kind of use their ammo there that they’re using against us and use it against them. It’s like, well, make it make sense because the math ain’t mathing, and you can’t say the SEC is down and horrible and blah, blah, blah. But then you got Bama ranked as the 6th best team in the conference.”

Alabama football will have an opportunity to prove a lot of doubters wrong this fall. The Crimson Tide is set to begin fall camp next week ahead of opening the season against East Carolina on Sept. 5.