Texas A&M started this season ranked No. 8 in the country. Seven weeks later the Aggies are 3-3, and the next stop is Tuscaloosa. Alabama vs Texas A&M kicks off at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, October 24, at 2:30 p.m. Central (3:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. in the UK) on ABC. It's the first meeting between these SEC programs since 2023, and Alabama comes in at 5-1 and No. 6 in the AP poll, two weeks removed from a narrow loss to Georgia.
Alabama's one bad afternoon
Kalen DeBoer's third team won its first five, and most of them weren't close: East Carolina 48-10, Kentucky 45-17 on the road, Florida State 50-36, South Carolina 49-18 and No. 16 Mississippi State 56-23 in Starkville. Then No. 2 Georgia came to town on October 10 and won 20-17 on a Peyton Woodring field goal with about five minutes left.
The big preseason question was quarterback, after 2025 starter Ty Simpson went in the first round of the NFL draft. Sophomore Keelon Russell has pretty much settled it. He threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns against Florida State and 365 yards and four touchdowns against South Carolina. Trae'shawn Brown has been the lead back, and Ryan Coleman-Williams and Lotzeir Brooks are the main targets.
One thing to keep in mind: Alabama plays at No. 14 Tennessee on October 17, the Third Saturday in October. That's a physical road rivalry game the week before this one, and those tend to leave bruises.
Where it went wrong for the Aggies
Mike Elko's team went 11-2 last season and made the College Football Playoff before losing 10-3 to Miami in the first round at Kyle Field. This year began fine, with a 50-0 win over Missouri State and 48-20 over Arizona State.
The SEC has been a different story. Kentucky won 31-21 at Kyle Field. LSU won 35-6 in Baton Rouge. A&M beat Arkansas 34-7, then lost 27-6 at Missouri. That's 1-3 in conference play, and six points in each of the two SEC road games. Six. Twice.
Junior quarterback Marcel Reed still has weapons in receivers Mario Craver and Isaiah Horton and running backs Rueben Owens II and KJ Edwards. Something isn't connecting on the road, though, and the Aggies get a breather first against FCS side The Citadel on October 17.
A series with Bear Bryant in it
Alabama leads 13-3, but the history is more interesting than the record. The teams first met in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day 1942, a 29-21 Alabama win. Paul "Bear" Bryant coached Texas A&M in the 1950s before going home to his alma mater, and in the January 1968 Cotton Bowl his former player and assistant Gene Stallings led the Aggies past Bryant's Tide, 20-16.
The SEC era started with a jolt. In 2012, Johnny Manziel and No. 15 A&M went into Tuscaloosa and beat top-ranked Alabama 29-24, the win that made Manziel the Heisman favorite. It's still the Aggies' only victory in that building. Alabama then won eight straight from 2013 to 2020, including a 49-42 thriller in College Station in 2013 and a 59-0 blowout in Tuscaloosa in 2014. A&M got one back in 2021, stunning top-ranked Alabama 41-38 on a field goal as time expired in College Station. The Tide won the last two, 24-20 in Tuscaloosa in 2022 and 26-20 in College Station in 2023.
So the Aggies have pulled this upset twice in the SEC era. That's the hope they're holding onto.
What's riding on Alabama vs Texas A&M
For Alabama, it's the College Football Playoff. The Georgia loss left very little room in the SEC race, and a second conference defeat would make a December trip back to Atlanta much harder. Win this one, and ideally the Tennessee game too, and DeBoer's team heads into November firmly in the national picture.
For A&M it's bowl eligibility and pride, with South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas still to come. A road win over a top-10 Alabama would change how the whole season gets remembered.
How we see it
Alabama scores more than 40 a game against everyone not named Georgia, it's at home in a stadium that holds more than 100,000, and A&M has lost its three SEC games by an average of 20 points. The Tennessee hangover is the only real worry I have. I'd expect the Tide to lean on Russell early and make the Aggies' offense play from behind, which it hasn't done well on the road. A&M probably needs turnovers and an early lead, and nothing so far says it gets both.
Alabama 34, Texas A&M 17.
Quick answers
What channel is the game on?
ABC, at 2:30 p.m. Central. The SEC had the game on a flexible designation before settling on that slot. You can stream ABC through the ESPN app or any live-TV service that includes it.
Where can I watch it for free?
DAMITV will carry Alabama vs Texas A&M free in HD with no signup. Look for the game card on match day, and keep our football streams page bookmarked for the rest of the weekend, which includes Sunday night's Chiefs at Seahawks and Monday's Cowboys at Eagles. Spanish-language viewers can use NFL en vivo. The official schedule and game notes are at Alabama Athletics.
