Having a habit of clicking around on the internet looking for interesting information it is easy to end up on random sports blogs. One such trip recently finished on the pages of al.com and specifically their Crimson Tide content. Being a sucker for a good list article it was interesting to see a list suggesting some of the teams that the writer (Michael Casagrande) thought would be fun non-conference opponents for Alabama.
While some such as the Cleveland Browns (it would be awesome) and Sewanee (a D3 school ‘Bama used to have a rivalry with but hasn’t played since 1938) are clearly a little tongue in cheek, others make much more sense in the current college football climate. One name on the list should be very interesting to Mids fans, but is there really any chance that Navy could line up against Alabama at some point in the near future?
Sadly the realistic answer to this is no, and in truth the matchup doesn’t make sense for either school at this point.
Navy would love to play Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. The crowd at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium would be nothing short of insane for this contest. The problem is that Navy’s schedule is just so locked in. There are eight American Athletic Conference games, Army and Air Force in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, and then Notre Dame. That is 11 of the 12 permitted games and Navy likes to use that extra game as a warm up to start the season.
Warming up against Alabama would be a bad idea.
The only conceivable way it would work on the Navy end is to skip the Notre Dame game for a season. This is perhaps a possibility, but it does seem unlikely.
Even if Navy did want the clash to happen then it probably makes even less sense for Saban and his crew. He would want no part of a feisty triple-option team that is unlike anything the Crimson Tide play in the SEC. The preparation would be so alien to Alabama and the style matchup would not help at all with game planning for future opponents, something coaches always look for in their non-con schedule.
At this point, it is fair to say that this contest is but a dream. In the ever-changing world of college football, however, such an unlikely scenario coming to fruition is only ever a couple of administrative hires away.