Everyone has their favorite holiday. For many people across the United States it’s often Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or another traditional and federally recognized holiday. For many in Alabama, though, the best holiday is a little less official but not lacking one bit when it comes to celebration: the beginning of football season. We dust off the grills, bring out our dip bowls decorated with our favorite team’s colors, and refresh our trash talking dialogue in preparation for this most cherished annual celebration. While we’ve suffered through a long hot summer that included the always dreaded football drought, a glimmer of hope recently showed itself as the NFL preseason kicked off. Now we entering the heart of football season as high school games in the state kick off this week along with a few college football teams, with the rest of the NCAA kicking off next week. Here’s a few things to look forward to when it comes to football in Alabama these next few weeks.
High School Football
While some games had to be pushed back by a couple of hours to escape the extremely hot temperature that Alabama is currently experiencing, high school football is kicking off this evening with an electric lineup! Alumni, students, and parents of all schools have great games to watch this week. A few highlights including #15 Spain Park at Calera, Pelham at Jackson-Olin, #3 Clay-Chalkville at Briarwood, James Clemens at #11 Gardendale, Auburn at #2 Hoover, Opelika at #1 Thompson, Central at #4 Hewitt-Trussville, #18 Center Point at Tylertown, #17 Pleasant Grove at Smiths Station, Woodlawn at Bessemer City, Florence at #19 Pinson Valley, Oak Mountain at Northridge, #7 Ramsay at #10 Hueytown, Mortimer Jordan at #16 Leeds, Carver Birmingham at Midfield, Pell City at #25 Moody, Tarrant at Talladega County Central, Fairfield at #8 Parker, and #12 Homewood at John Carroll. As you can see, many Birmingham-area schools are among the highest ranked in the state and we’re in for a season of thrilling matchups. Ramsay and Hueytown is an early battle of top 10 teams.
College Football in Alabama
What’s the quickest way to tell if someone grew up in Alabama or moved here? Ask them which one they like more between college football and the NFL. 99.99% of those born in the state are going to go with college football. We’ve grown up with the rivalries around us. From the moments we first remember, most can recollect their whole family rejoicing or mourning on Saturdays depending on how the households favorite team did. We are a college football state and Birmingham is a college football city. While many of the college teams in the state start next week, there’s no doubt that fans are waiting in eager anticipation and making their game day watch plans already.
Although they aren’t playing this week, UAB football is one of the earlier games to start off next week. The Blazers, who are coming off a Bowl berth season with many players - and their uniforms - receiving recognition heading into 2023, will be playing at home game at Protective Stadium against North Carolina AT&T on Thursday, August 31st. This is UAB’s first season in the American Athletic Conference and the team will be looking to make an early impression on their new rivals across the league.
Samford football is joining UAB in starting the season on Thursday, and the Bulldogs will be hosting their matchup as well. The Shorter University Hawks are coming into town to take on a confident Samford team that will go on to play in-state SEC heavyweight Auburn in Week 3.
Speaking of Auburn, the Tigers will be hosting the Minutemen from the University of Massachusetts to kick off their season on Saturday, September 2nd, at 2:30pm. Auburn will face another interesting out-of-state opponent in California on Sep. 9th before coming back to their home state to face the Samford Bulldogs at home.
Miles College in Fairfield has an in-state showdown to start things off. As the Golden Bears travel to Montgomery to take on the Alabama State University Hornets. Alabama State starts their season a week earlier at home against Southern University. Other teams across the state’s opening include Alabama A&M traveling to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt, the University of South Alabama Jaguars playing at Tulane, and Troy hosting S.F. Austin at Veterans Memorial Stadium - all on September 2nd.
Then there’s the University of Alabama, who is coming into the season ranked #4 in the AP Top 25 and will be looking to scoot up the ranks to the #1 spot they called home for so long. The Crimson Tide also begins their season at home - a theme for Alabama schools. Alabama welcomes the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a 6:30 matchup.
Talk about an exciting first two weeks of football! Grab your good luck jerseys and let’s get ready to cheer on our favorite team.
Cover image from UAB Athletics
