Alabama Football Announces Date, Opponent for 2026 Homecoming Game

The Crimson Tide will face Texas A&M on Oct. 24 in a matchup that features multiple Alabama outgoing transfers from this past season.

Oct 18, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer reacts during the first quarter against the Tennessee Volunteers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images | David Leong-Imagn Images

Alabama football announced on Thursday that next season's homecoming game will be on Oct. 24 against Texas A&M, per Yea Alabama, the Crimson Tide's NIL collective.

This game already has some spice to it, as former Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Horton and offensive lineman Wilkin Formby transferred to the Aggies earlier this offseason. They are among 20 outgoing Crimson Tide transfers.

The Crimson Tide and Aggies will meet for the 17th time in series history (Alabama leads 13-3), with the first matchup occurring on Jan. 1, 1942. Alabama owns an 89-14-1, all-time record on homecoming. UA held a 22-Homecoming game winning streak dating back to 2001, but Oklahoma outlasted Alabama 23-21 this past season.

A start time and network designation for the 2026 Homecoming game will be announced at a later date.

This will be head coach Kalen DeBoer's third homecoming at Alabama. The first featured a dominant 34-0 victory over Missouri on Oct. 26, 2024, and the aformentioned loss to the Sooners.

Another reason that next season's homecoming will be different than last year is due to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson's departure for the NFL Draft. The Crimson Tide has a decision to make next season as to who will be the Week 1 starting quarterback. There will be a competition this spring between rising redshirt junior Austin Mack and rising redshirt freshman Keelon Russell.

Mack was Simpson's primary backup during the season, and after the starter "cracked" his rib late in the first half of the Rose Bowl loss to Indiana, the QB2 subbed in and completed 11 of 16 pass attempts for 103 yards and led the Tide to its first and only points of the day via a field goal by Conor Talty.

"Every game I kind of just tell myself, 'Be Ready,' and I've never been surprised," Mack said after the game. "Anything could happen and I knew I was one play away from getting in the game. So when they told me I was getting in the game, it was just like, 'Let's go and let's just play ball.'

"It was the moment, I was ready for. It was something I had been preparing for the whole season. Something I put a lot of work in to get to. Obviously, it's a big stage — the Rose Bowl against the No. 1 team — but I was ready for it."

Mack and Russell will be the sole competitors in this battle, as it's extremely unlikely that incoming freshmen Jett Thomalla and Tayden Kaawa will be considered for the QB1 spot.

"Whether it's Austin or me, I feel like we're going to have the best opportunity for our offense," Russell said before the Rose Bowl. "We're going to be competing all year, all season, all offseason. But I feel 100 percent that if it's going to be me or Austin, the offense is going to be in great hands.

"We're both competitors, we both love the game, we're both going to be in and out of the facility. It's going to be fun. I want to win the starting position, but like I said, whether it's me or Austin, I feel like it's going to be a great season no matter what."

2026 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Schedule:

September 5: East Carolina
September 12: at Kentucky
September 19: Florida State
September 26: South Carolina
October 3: at Mississippi State
October 10: Georgia
October 17: at Tennessee
October 24: Texas A&M (Homecoming)
October 31: Open
November 7: at LSU
November 14: at Vanderbilt
November 21: Chattanooga
November 28: Auburn

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