Essentials Inside The Story

• Predictions calculator for Top four SEC teams
• Deep dive into the playoffs history of various programs
• Kalen DeBoer sounds alarm on Auburn's resurgence

The top dogs in the SEC gauntlet are running on fumes. The finish line is already in sight. With December 6 creeping up, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, Ole Miss Rebels, and Texas A&M Aggies are the big four still in the hunt. Among them, Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama, their conference championship hopes took a sharp nosedive.

On November 24, On3Sports’ Ross Dellenger dropped a chart based on the updated SEC-championship scenarios. He explained the scenario in a nutshell.

The caption read, “Updated SEC championship game scenarios. Bottomline: Alabama and Texas A&M control their destiny. Win & in. If either lose, Georgia is playing in Atlanta. If both lose, Ole Miss is playing in Atlanta if it beats Mississippi State.”

DeBoer’s squad is automatically in the SEC Championship Game if they win their last game. On the other hand, the Bulldogs clinch a spot in Atlanta if either Alabama loses or Texas A&M loses in the final week.

Cut to Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss, they have the most restrictive and challenging scenario. To clinch, the Rebels must win their game against Mississippi State; additionally, both Alabama and Texas A&M must lose. 

Texas A&M is in a similar position to DeBoer’s Crimson Tide. If they win, nothing else can knock them out of the SEC Championship Game. In case A&M loses, there is still a path: Alabama must lose, and Ole Miss must also lose. For DeBoer and crew, the script flipped fast. The Tide, usually the ones steering the whole postseason ship, suddenly lost all wiggle room.

Meanwhile, Georgia is in cruise control mode, needing nothing more than an Alabama or A&M slip-up to punch their ticket. That puts Bama in a wild spot, the lone contender with zero safety nets left.

Alabama rolls in at 6-1 in the SEC and 9-2 overall, still holding down the No. 10 ranking. Their only conference loss is the tight one at home against Oklahoma. That opening stumble against Florida State looks rough on paper now, but doesn’t derail the Kalen DeBoer and Co.’s conference crown scenario.

For Alabama, the Iron Bowl isn’t just a rivalry; it’s the gateway to the SEC title game. It’s going to be an essential challenge for DeBoer.

Alabama’s last SEC crown came on December 2, 2023, when the Tide clipped Georgia 27-24 and snagged their 30th conference title. In the past five seasons, Bama’s been living in rare air, stacking conference title trophies in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, and punching Playoff tickets in ’20, ’21, and ’23.

But 2022 was the curveball year.

First, Tennessee snapped the Tide’s streak with that 52-49 walk-off field goal. Then LSU piled on, stealing a 32-31 OT thriller in Baton Rouge, hijacking the SEC West and slamming the door on Bama’s conference title shot and CFP dreams.

As DeBoer and his crew lay the final brick on their road to Atlanta, the head coach didn’t sugarcoat a thing.

Kalen DeBoer sounds the alarm on Auburn’s uptick

Bama’s lining up against an interim skipper, DJ Durkin, as the Tide rolls into the Plains for the Iron Bowl. Auburn Tigers have been scrappy under him, nearly upsetting Vanderbilt Commodores in OT 45-38 and then torching Mercer Bears 62-17. How dialed-in is DeBoer’s squad for this Iron Bowl war?

Alabama fans are getting major déjà vu vibes. 17 years ago, Nick Saban’s Tide smoked Auburn 36-0 to cap a perfect 12-0 run, only to watch the SEC crown slip away against Florida. Kalen DeBoer rolls into the 2025 Iron Bowl with none of that old ironclad certainty. Alabama rolls into the Plains at 9-2, but cracks are starting to show.

A stuck-in-neutral ground game, a hot-and-cold air attack, and special teams miscues are stacking up. Drop this one, and the Tide starts at a three-loss season and a straight-up exit from the CFP race. Yet then, DeBoer kept the situation sizzling.

Now that Hugh Freeze has left, the Alabama head coach said, “They seem to be playing free and putting up a lot of points in the last two weeks.”

Under Freeze, Auburn’s offense hit rock bottom, scraping together just 15 points a game in his six-game stint. Kalen DeBoer’s got enough on his plate with Auburn trending up, and the injury bug isn’t helping. Josh Cuevas, Germie Bernard, and Parker Brailsford missed the Eastern Illinois game, and both Cuevas and Brailsford were seen in boots.

However, here comes some positive news.

On November 21, Charlie Potter tweeted, “Kalen DeBoer, to CTSN pregame, says Germie Bernard and Parker Brailsford should be available to play in next week’s Iron Bowl.”

Can this be considered a good omen for Kalen DeBoer and co.’s ride ahead? Let’s wait and watch.