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Alabama’s full 2026 schedule has been released.
Patrick Murphy’s Crimson Tide finished 12-12 in conference play, tied for ninth in the SEC regular-season standings. Victors in 40 games overall, the Tide went undefeated in their home regional before ending their season in the Norman Super Regional. Pitcher Jocelyn Briski and offensive stalwarts Abby Duchscherer and Audrey Vandagriff lead the group of returners.
Here’s a look at what’s in store on the Crimson Tide’s schedule.
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The Opponents
Non-Conference
Alabama opens the season in Atlanta at a tournament hosted by Georgia Tech. East Carolina and Villanova are also in the tournament field.
Week two is the first home weekend of the year for the Tide, with Liberty, Purdue, and Georgia Southern heading to T-town. In week three, Alabama will head south to Tallahassee where they’ll play Florida State twice, as well as Elon and Dartmouth.
Week four finds the Tide back in Tuscaloosa for a home tournament that includes South Florida, St. Thomas, and Kent State. During their bye week from SEC play, the Tide will host a two-game set against North Dakota State.
Midweek opponents include Louisiana-Monroe, Jacksonville State, North Alabama, South Alabama, and home-and-home series with both UAB and Samford.
Conference Schedule
Home: Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina
Road: Ole Miss, Missouri, Auburn, Tennessee
By the Numbers
Highest RPI Non-Conference Games: No. 7 Florida State, No. 25 Liberty, No. 32 South Florida, No. 39 Georgia Tech, No. 47 Purdue
Lowest RPI Non-Conference Games: No. 242 Kent State, No. 204 North Dakota State, No. 190 Dartmouth, No. 168 South Alabama, No. 156 UAB
As part of the SEC’s imbalanced conference schedule, every team in the league avoids six conference opponents. On the list of teams that Alabama won’t play in 2026: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida, LSU, Georgia, and Mississippi State.
The Matchups
Notable: vs. Florida State — This has become an annual matchup and it’s one that never lacks for high-octane, competitive games. The Tide and the Seminoles will play twice in a tournament in Tallahassee. Both games promise to be can’t-miss softball.
One to Watch: vs. Liberty — A week two matchup as part of the Crimson Tide’s home-opening tournament, Bama will be out for revenge after losing to the Flames in Clearwater last season. Liberty, for their part, knows what a true road win against an SEC team can do for one’s RPI. It will be early enough in the season that both teams could also still be ‘getting their bearings’, adding an extra level of intrigue to the matchup.
Underrated Matchup: vs. Georgia Tech — Opening the season in Atlanta has also become a regular occurrence for the Tide. They’ll play the Yellow Jackets twice, once on Friday evening and once on Saturday afternoon. Georgia Tech picked up a couple of SEC wins last season and are a particularly formidable opponent for the Tide to open the year.
The Takeaways
On paper, this schedule doesn’t look super strong, but it’s one that could shape up very well for Alabama. There’s a pretty clear “one and others” approach to all of the non-conference tournaments; one top-tier or high-RPI opponent and two additional teams that fill out the field. In the road tournaments, those high-RPI foes are the hosts: Georgia Tech and Florida State. For the home tournaments, it’s Liberty in week two and South Florida in week four. There are some sneaky-good teams among the “others”, so the Tide will have to be careful to avoid upsets, but it’s a schedule that could have the Tide in very good position entering SEC play.
The SEC slate could also be very favorable for the Tide. Both Arkansas and Texas are at home, with the series at Tennessee the toughest road jaunt. There’s no Oklahoma, no Florida, no LSU, no Texas A&M. If the Alabama freshman class makes the immediate impact that they’re projected to in Tuscaloosa, this could be a major rebound year for the Tide in conference play.
Both Liberty and Florida State picked up wins over the Crimson Tide in their only meetings last season. This year, the Tide will rematch against both the Flames and the Seminoles and will get two shots at each foe. These are top-tier matchups without any footnotes, but the underlying idea of the Tide looking for revenge adds something extra.
As is common for Patrick Murphy’s squad, the Tide will play several in-state opponents in midweek games. They’ll also visit Birmingham twice, playing home-and-home midweek series’ with both UAB and Samford. Playing in-state opponents and going on the road to those same teams is a mainstay in Murphy’s scheduling philosophy and is one of the underratedly-excellent parts of the Tide schedule every year.
RPI rankings used are the final rankings from the 2025 season.
