Nate Oats has given Alabama a useful October. Furman visits on October 8. Ole Miss follows on October 15 in Birmingham, with Auburn there a week later. Three Thursdays, three opponents and time between games to change something that failed.
I like that arrangement. A single exhibition can leave a coach arguing with one evening's shooting. Alabama can try a combination, work on it for a week and put it in front of a different opponent. The value depends on how Oats uses those chances.
Alabama announced the Furman game on September 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central at Coleman Coliseum. The regular-season opener against Sam Houston is November 3, also at Coleman. That leaves twelve days after Auburn for the final work before games begin counting.
Give the first result some company
Furman has a reason to take the trip seriously. Alabama's announcement identifies the Paladins as the reigning Southern Conference tournament champions. Last season's exhibition between these teams ended 96-71 in Alabama's favor. Those two facts belong together. The earlier margin supplies context, while the championship explains why dismissing Furman as an October formality would be careless.
For Alabama, I would use the first game to give possible rotation combinations enough time together to reveal a problem. Substituting after every mistake can prevent the coach from finding out whether the next possession looks better. The staff can still make corrections without treating the first five minutes as a final selection meeting.
That is a proposed use of the schedule. These announcements do not specify an October rotation, and a list of opponents cannot tell us who has earned minutes in practice.
The next two dates offer the chance to revisit those choices. Ole Miss comes to Boutwell Auditorium on October 15 at 7 p.m. Central. Auburn meets Alabama at Legacy Arena on October 22, also at 7. Both games are exhibitions against SEC opponents. Neither supplies a conference win.
Auburn will naturally attract attention. I would resist letting the rivalry make every substitution a referendum on the season. If Alabama still has a genuine rotation question on October 22, putting that combination back on the floor may be more useful than protecting an exhibition lead with the most familiar group.
October has a job before December arrives
Alabama's nonconference schedule announcement includes a December 12 meeting with St. John's in Birmingham. The staff has a reason to want more than an attractive October score. By the time that game arrives, it needs dependable answers about which players can share the floor.
Our analysis of Chase Lumpkin's Alabama commitment considers how a guard's passing can support a perimeter offense. Lumpkin belongs to the 2027 recruiting class. This October belongs to the current team, which has to demonstrate its own passing and lineup combinations before anyone can assess them.
That is what I would follow across the three exhibitions. When the same group returns against a new opponent, does it handle the problem that interrupted it a week earlier? A made shot can cover a poor possession once. Three games give the staff a better chance to distinguish a correction from a fortunate finish.
The first public examination on this exhibition schedule is Furman at Coleman on October 8. Oats then gets a week to decide what he wants to see again.
