Alabama Football: Game-by-Game Predictions for the 2012 Season

Alabama will set out to become the first defending national champion to repeat since Nebraska in 1995. 

With a ton of talent departing Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide will have their hands full in making it back to the BCS national championship game. 

Their quest will begin in unfamiliar territory, with the season opener coming against the Michigan Wolverines in Cowboys Stadium. 

After dealing with one of the nation’s top duel-threat quarterbacks in Denard Robinson, two weeks later, Nick Saban and his defense will have to make the transition to match up with Arkansas gunslinger Tyler Wilson on September 15 in Fayetteville. 

A trio of road games jump out as potential hazards for Saban’s troops. 

After an early bye week—October 6—the Tide will roll into Missouri to face one of the SEC’s newest members. 

The third weekend in October will see the Tide roll into Neyland Stadium to take on Tennessee. 

The rematch of January’s BCS National Championship game will take place on November 3 when the Tide travels to Baton Rouge to face a likely top five team in LSU. 

Alabama closes the 2012 season with three consecutive home games in November—highlighted by Texas A&M’s first-ever visit to Bryant-Denny stadium, and the annual season-ending clash with in-state rival Auburn. 

While the Crimson Tide will likely field a preseason top five team of its own, the schedule is loaded with land mines that could derail their dreams of adding a 15^th national championship to the trophy case. 

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