The college football season might still be three months away but Alabama fans already know their opponents in the first two games of the season.
The Crimson Tide will open the season in the 2019 Chick-fil-A Kickoff against Duke on August 31 at 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET) at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
The game will be broadcast live on ABC.
Alabama has won three of its four meetings against the Blue Devils, with the most recent win coming in a 62-13 thrashing on the road in Durham, North Carolina.
On September 7, the Crimson Tide will then welcome New Mexico State to the Bryant-Denny Stadium for their first home game of the season.
The game, which is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast by the SEC Network, marks the first ever meeting between Alabama and New Mexico State.
A week later, the Crimson Tide will travel to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, for its first season meeting against an SEC conference rival.
The matchup against the Gamecocks will be broadcast live by CBS at 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET).
The upcoming season is shaping up to be a major test of Alabama's character, after the Crimson Tide was thrashed 44-16 by Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Ranked as the top two teams in the country, Alabama and Clemson both entered the game with a 14-0 record but the Crimson Tide had no answers for the Tigers, who became the first college football team in 121 years to win 15 games.
The margin of defeat was historic too as since Nick Saban took charge of Alabama in 2007, the Crimson Tide had gone 141-21, had never lost by more than 14 points and had never been 15 points behind at halftime.
The two programs have dominated college football over the last four years and arrived at the College Football Playoff championship in January with a combined 106-4 record.
While both teams have a number of players expected to enter the NFL draft in March, they are also set to retain their quarterbacks.
Trevor Lawrence, who became the first freshman since 1985 to lead a team to the national championship, will return to Clemson, while Tua Tagovailoa will remain in Tuscaloosa.
Unsurprisingly, Clemson and Alabama are the bookmakers' favorites to win the national title in the upcoming season. According to Vegasinsider.com, the Tigers are 9/4 (+225 in moneyline terms) to become national champions, while Alabama are 5/2.
Georgia and Ohio State follow at 8/1 and 9/1 respectively, with Oklahoma and Michigan both 16/1 outsiders.
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Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he ... Read more
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