Alabama football and the Florida State Seminoles conclude their home-and-home series in Week 3 of the 2026 season Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Crimson Tide (2-0) are ranked No. 10 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll; Florida State (1-1) is unranked.
While it's not the most marquee matchup on the SEC's Week 3 slate, Alabama and Florida State are two college football programs with brand recognition and are never short on eyeballs attuned to their year-to-year and week-to-week goings on. They're also two programs headed in vastly opposite directions.
The Crimson Tide may have lost to the Seminoles in last year's season opener at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, 31-17, but Alabama proved the result more or less the equivalent
of the Rams losing a Week 1 contest to the Jets.
The Tide are coming off a 45-17 win over Kentucky at Kroger Field that saw them erase a 17-13 deficit at halftime while scoring 32 unanswered points. Keelon Russell overcame three turnovers in the first half to finish 16-of-23 for 188 yards and a touchdown.
Alabama ran for 150 yards in the second half behind Daniel Hill, who had a career day with 104 rushing yards. Freshmen EJ Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown added touchdown runs, and the Crimson Tide defense yielded just 57 net yards in the second half in Lexington.
Florida State fell to SMU, 27-24, on Sept. 7 in Tallahassee. The Seminoles couldn't take advantage of four SMU turnovers in the loss, their 18th overall defeat since the start of the 2024 season. Head coach Mike Norvell is on the hottest of hot seats, and FSU fired athletic director Michael Alford earlier in the week.
Will Alabama and coach Kalen DeBoer take some revenge on Florida State after last year's stunning loss in Tallahassee?
ESPN predicts the final score of Alabama football vs. Florida State
— Roll Tide Wire (@RollTideWire) September 17, 2026
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USA TODAY Sports predictions for Alabama vs Florida State, LSU vs Ole Miss in Week 3 SEC action
USA TODAY Sports' college football experts unveiled their weekly picks and predictions for every top-25 team heading into Week 3, including Alabama-Florida State.
To no surprise, the seven-member panel featuring Paul Myerberg, Matt Hayes, John Brice, Eddie Timanus and others are taking the Crimson Tide. All seven see Alabama winning Saturday's game against the Seminoles.
The group is a little less certain about college football's Week 3 headliner: the prime-time matchup between No. 7 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss in Lane Kiffin's contentious return to Oxford as Tigers coach. Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU ahead of the Rebels' first-ever College Football Playoff run last year.
"You might have heard a little something about one of the games on the Week 3 agenda in college football. We all know the main plot when No. 7 LSU visits No. 9 Mississippi, as Lane Kiffin brings his new charges to face the program he left. But beyond all the noise, our staff pickers are concerned only with who will actually win." --Timanus.
With that in mind, five of the seven members from USA TODAY Sports' panel of pigskin prognosticators see LSU beating Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (6:30 p.m. CT, ABC).
Elsewhere, the experts predict smooth sailing for the rest of the SEC teams in their weekly picks and predictions. All seven see No. 2 Georgia winning its SEC opener at Arkansas, and No. 9 Texas A&M beating Kentucky in College Station in the Aggies' conference opener.
No. 1 Texas, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 22 Missouri all host Group of Six opponents in Week 3. All seven USA TODAY Sports panelists unanimously picked each team to win.
What is Alabama football's history vs Florida State?
Alabama leads the all-time series against Florida State, 3-2-1. The Crimson Tide are welcoming the Seminoles to Tuscaloosa for the first time since the 1974 season when Bear Bryant's team defeated FSU, 8-7.
Here are game results for Alabama vs. Florida State in the all-time series:
- Aug. 30, 2025: Florida State 31, Alabama 17 (Tallahassee)
- Sept. 2, 2017: Alabama 24, Florida State 7 (Atlanta)
- Sept. 29, 2007: Florida State 21, Alabama 14 (Jacksonville)
- Oct. 12, 1974: Alabama 8, Florida State 7 (Tuscaloosa)
- Sept. 23, 1967: Alabama 37, Florida State 37 (Birmingham)
- Oct. 23, 1965: Alabama 21, Florida State 0 (Tuscaloosa)
Alabama football vs. Florida State: start time, TV channel, announcers
TV channel, commentators for Alabama football vs. Florida State
— Roll Tide Wire (@RollTideWire) September 15, 2026
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Kickoff for Alabama-Florida State is 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday. The game will be televised on ABC. Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will have the call of the game from the broadcast booth at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Katie George will report from the sidelines.
Additionally, the Crimson Tide Sports Network feed of the game featuring Alabama radio voice Chris Stewart and Tyler Watts can be heard on SiriusXM channel 82 and The Varsity App.
Alabama football schedule 2026
All start times Central.
- Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina Pirates (W, 48-10)
- Sept. 12: at Kentucky Wildcats (W, 45-17)
- Sept. 19: vs. Florida State Seminoles, 2:30 p.m., ABC
- Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks, 6 p.m., ESPN
- Oct. 3: at Mississippi State Bulldogs, early window
- Oct. 10: vs. Georgia Bulldogs, prime time
- Oct. 17: at Tennessee Volunteers, TBA
- Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M Aggies, TBA
- Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers, TBA
- Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt Commodores, TBA
- Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga Mocs, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
- Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers, TBA
Record: 2-0 overall, 1-0 SEC.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: USA TODAY Sports predicts Alabama vs FSU, SEC football Week 3 games
