Josh Pate High on Alabama in 2025 Post-Spring Rankings

We’re in mid-May, meaning college football fans can smell the summer workouts and fall camp just around the corner for their favorite college football programs. Alabama fans are no different, with fans hungry for any content surrounding their favorite team.

This is also when experts and pundits across college football begin to put out power and preseason rankings. While some preseason rankings are down on the Crimson Tide following a 9-4 season, one college football expert is significantly higher on the Tide than others.

Josh Pate, host of Josh Pate’s College Football Show on CBS, has the Crimson Tide higher than most in his post-spring 2025 rankings.

Pate has the Crimson Tide ranked No. 4 in his post-spring rankings, behind Clemson, Texas, and Penn State.

In total, Pate has nine SEC teams, five Big Ten teams, three ACC teams, two Big 12 Teams, and Notre Dame in his rankings.

No, it’s not 2016, but Clemson sits atop the college football world in many people’s preseason rankings. The Tigers return their starting quarterback alongside both coordinators, and of course, head coach Dabo Swinney. Defensively, Clemson returns nine starters from last year’s top-50 unit. The Tigers were also a top-15 unit last season in turnovers forced with 1.9 per game.

Alabama sits in a similar spot to the top-ranked Tigers. Alabama returns nine starters from last season’s defense, which ranked as a top-ten unit for the first time since 2017. Alabama returns its defensive coordinator, who led that unit in Kane Wommack. After the Tide’s loss to Vanderbilt, Alabama only allowed 14.8 points per game, which would’ve been good for third in college football throughout the season.

Offensively, Alabama upgraded at offensive coordinator with Kalen DeBoer getting Ryan Grubb back into the folds of the offense. Grubb will have to navigate a quarterback battle in his first season of calling plays in Tuscaloosa, but Grubb is impressed with Alabama’s quarterbacks through the end of spring ball.

At receiver, we know what the Crimson Tide has in its arsenal. Ryan Williams will look to build upon a true freshman season where he led the Crimson Tide in receiving yards and touchdowns, while Germie Bernard will look to build on his breakout season last year. Alabama returns Jalen Hale from injury while adding star Miami receiver Isaiah Horton from the portal.

The biggest areas of concern for the Tide are depth along the offensive line and health at tight end. Alabama ended spring practice with one healthy scholarship tight end. Not only do the injuries at tight end potentially mean Alabama starts the year thin at tight end, but it may also stunt the development of a room that is vital to the Kalen DeBoer offensive scheme.

Alabama is thin at offensive tackle behind Kadyn Proctor and Wilkin Formby. Alabama’s third offensive lineman is likely true freshman Jackson Lloyd, further emphasizing the lack of experience at tackle in the offensive line room. If Alabama can stay healthy along the offensive line, the Tide could be a dangerous force in 2025.

Pate also discussed his takes on Alabama recently on The Next Round, where he said he expects the Tide to compete for an SEC Championship this season.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.

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