There is an extra season beyond that which is enjoyed by college football fans. It is a season with speculation as vast as space and predictions as many as infinity. It is the middle ground between spring-sport championships and fall camp, between celebration and preparation, and it lies between the pit of fans’ fears and the summit of their knowledge. This is a season of anticipation. It is a time which we call “The Dead Zone.”

There are still 15 weeks until Alabama kicks off its season against Western Kentucky. And, man, they are going to be difficult to pass.

Recruiting never sleeps, and Kalen DeBoer cut the ribbon on his 2026 class on Saturday. It will be interesting to monitor the Crimson Tide’s roster building for the near and distant future over the next few weeks, but that only goes so far toward filling the offseason void.

SEC Spring Meetings will take place in Destin, Florida from May 27-30. That is sure to stir up some talking points. So will SEC Media Days, which will be held in Dallas from July 15-18. Shortly after that, EA Sports will release its College Football 25 video game, which will serve as a welcomed time-killer while the countdown to the season slowly ticks away.

Regardless, the wait still seems daunting as we enter the summer months. To combat that, I’m spending this column daydreaming about more exciting times this fall.

With that said, pour yourself a drink, and let's dive in.

Like Alabama softball's bats, the rain was slow to arrive in Tuscaloosa this weekend. Still, dark clouds and Patrick Murphy’s squad’s social experiment on human patience delayed some of the excitement around town.

Maybe Alabama’s five-run rally in the ninth inning Saturday is foreshadowing for brighter things to come. Just in case it’s not, here’s a drink to help Tide fans weather the storm.

The Dark ‘n Stormy was created in the 1800s by Gosling Brothers, a British-owned beverage company that produces rum and ginger beer out of Bermuda. It didn’t take long to discover that marrying the spiciness of the ginger beer with the sweetness of the molasses-based dark rum created a refreshing cocktail perfect for the island climate. According to Goslings, who trademarked the Dark ‘n Stormy in 1991, the drink earned its name after a fisherman stated that it had the “color of a cloud only a fool or dead man would sail under.”

The Dark ‘n Stormy must be made with Goslings Black Seal Rum. Other than that, there are a few different ways to stir it up.

Here’s how our friends at Session put it together. Pour two ounces of Goslings, two ounces of soda water, ¾ of an ounce of ginger syrup and half an ounce of lime juice into a tin and shake over ice. From there, pour into a tall glass and enjoy.

(Let’s be real here though, none of y’all have ginger syrup. So if you’re making at home, sub that and the soda water for three ounces of your favorite ginger beer. I won’t tell the folks at Session if you won’t.)

Maybe this spicey drink will be emblematic of the kick Alabama softball will receive from its extra-inning heroics on Saturday. Maybe it’ll be the only thing that gets you through watching another sleepy afternoon at the plate. Either way, there are worse ways to spend a Sunday.

Cheers!

(Commercial break: My drink of the week section is now sponsored by my friends at Session Cocktails in Tuscaloosa. Session has been a mainstay in Tuscaloosa’s cocktail scene since 2019 and offers some of the tastiest drinks in town. Stop by and tell them I said hi!)

Traveling is half the fun of football season. Fortunately for me, I get to do so on the company’s dime — free press box food and an air-conditioned seat to boot.

My gloating ends there. I realize this job has placed me in a blessed situation, and I know better than to fool around with karma long enough to mess any of that up. I also realize how tough it is for the average fan to follow Alabama in person.

Never mind the time requirements needed to travel across the Southeast every weekend, it’s never been more expensive to be a Crimson Tide fan. Just when you started recovering from that Rose Bowl trip to Southern California, Nate Oats hit you with a surprise run to the Final Four. Alabama basketball's three stops during that trek — Spokane, Washington, Los Angeles and Phoenix — didn’t do the common man any favors, either.

I have bad news. It's not getting any easier this fall.

Two of Alabama’s five road games this season are at locations 700 or more miles away from Tuscaloosa. Then there’s the prospect of traveling to random destinations as part of the extended College Football Playoff.

There’s a faint light at the end of the tunnel, as the national championship game will be held in Atlanta. However, it’s tough to tell who will have a tougher road to get there, Alabama or your wallet.

Unless you have deep pockets, decisions are going to have to be made. And that’s where I hope to help.

For any fans still unsure about which games they should travel to this fall, I took the liberty of ranking the Tide’s five regular-season road trips from best to worst.

What goes into rating the ideal Alabama road trip, you ask? For this exercise, I considered travel distance, time of year, additional entertainment and, most importantly, the magnitude of the game itself.

1 – Knoxville, Tennessee (Oct. 19)

Game time: TBD

Venue: Neyland Stadium (101,915 capacity)

Distance from Tuscaloosa: 314 miles (4 hours, 34 minutes)

Dinner recommendation: Calhoun's On The River

Why it’s ranked here: You might have already made the trip to Knoxville for the Third Saturday in October, but you’ve never attended the rivalry during the DeBoer era. This is one of college football’s best rivalries and should continue to heat up with DeBoer and Josh Heupel seemingly leading their respective programs in the right direction.

There’s also no guarantee that this rivalry will continue to be a yearly event. Alabama and Tennessee are scheduled to play each other for the next two seasons, but the SEC could elect to go to a nine-game schedule in the future. If so, Auburn would become Alabama’s permanent conference opponent, leaving Tennessee off the Tide’s regular-season slate in some years.

As for this season, there’s a case to be made that this is Alabama’s most important matchup. The trip to Knoxville begins a three-game stretch that will also see the Tide host Missouri and travel to LSU. Alabama’s playoff hopes likely hinge on how it fares during that stretch.

If all of that isn’t enough, the SEC’s move from CBS to ABC/ESPN likely means this game will be played in the evening. If so, sign me up for a potential top-10 matchup in a rocking Neyland Stadium on a Tennessee Saturday night.

2 — Madison, Wisconsin (Sept. 14)

Game time: 11 a.m. CT

Venue: Camp Randall Stadium (80,321 capacity)

Distance from Tuscaloosa: 867 miles (12 hours, 11 minutes)

Dinner recommendation: Nitty Gritty

Why it’s ranked here: This is the only stop on this list I’ve yet to visit. However, it’ll be a homecoming of sorts for my Milwaukee-born coworker, Jack Knowlton, who grew up cheering for the Badgers. While Jack turned in his fandom years ago, I’m going to be leaning on his familiarity with Madison when we make our trip up north in mid-September.

Madison is commonly ranked amongst the top college towns in America, and experiencing “Jump Around” inside Camp Randall should be on every fan’s bucket list. Alabama’s only other trip to Madison came during the 1928 season when it suffered a 15-0 loss to the Badgers. Who knows the next time the Tide will make its way up to America’s Dairyland?

While I don’t expect Alabama to have much trouble with Wisconsin, this will be the first big game in the DeBoer era. It’ll be a bit of a trek, but if you can swing it, this one figures to be well worth your time and money.

3 — Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Nov. 9)

Game time: TBD

Venue: Tiger Stadium (102,321 capacity)

Distance from Tuscaloosa: 349 miles (4 hours, 58 minutes)

Dinner recommendation: Parrain's Seafood Restaurant

Why it’s ranked here: Novelty and matchup aside, this would be No. 1 on my list. I’ve seen a whiteout at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium and felt the press box shake inside Kyle Field during the Texas Aggie War Hymn. Cowbells are cool at Mississippi State, and The Swamp can be deafening during big games at Florida. None of the above match the electricity of a night game inside Tiger Stadium.

This trip would also be No. 1 if you took out football completely. It’s not hard to find a good time and a great meal in Baton Rouge during the fall. However, if you are looking for even more of a party, New Orleans is just an hour-long drive down I-10 East.

LSU has a lot to replace this year, but the Tigers could still be a stumbling block for the Tide this season. This game figures to have playoff implications and should serve as an entertaining start to the final month of the regular season.

4 — Nashville, Tennessee (Oct. 5)

Game time: TBD

Venue: FirstBank Stadium (39,790)

Distance from Tuscaloosa: 247 miles (3 hours, 28 minutes)

Dinner recommendation: Swett’s Restaurant

Why it’s ranked here: Look, the matchup sucks and so does the stadium. I don’t care. Nashville is still one of the coolest cities in the South, and you should take every opportunity you can to check it out.

By the look of it, Alabama fans will be booking an extended stay in the Music City for the SEC men’s basketball tournament next March. However, that ticket will likely set you back a bit more than one inside FirstBank Stadium for the Tide’s Oct. 5 trip to Vanderbilt.

DeBoer was a fourth-grader the last time Vanderbilt beat Alabama in 1984. Since then the Tide has rattled off 23 straight wins over the Commodores, outscoring them by a combined 746-268 during that span. You can go ahead and count on that streak extending to 24 wins with the same amount of certainty that I’ll be stopping for some fried chicken during my trip this fall.

5 — Norman, Oklahoma (Nov. 23)

Game time: TBD

Venue: Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (83,489 capacity)

Distance from Tuscaloosa: 700.8 miles (10 hours, 20 minutes)

Dinner recommendation: O'Connell's Irish Pub & Grille

Why it’s ranked here: Welcome to the SEC, Oklahoma. While this is the first time Alabama has traveled to Norman since 2002, the novelty kind of fades considering the Sooners are now part of the conference.

Memorial Stadium is nicknamed “The Palace on the Prairie,” and it’ll be cool to check off another major college football stadium from my list. However, Norman is just an average SEC town, and the Sooners figure to be just an average SEC team this fall.

Since putting together these rankings, a few people campaigned for this trip to be higher on the list — namely, my best friend Andrew Swiglo, who graduated from Oklahoma and currently lives in Oklahoma City. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pumped to pay Swiggy a visit. I just wish I didn’t have to make the 10-hour journey the week before Thanksgiving.

As I alluded to earlier, I expect the Sooners to struggle a bit during their debut season in the SEC. There will be other opportunities to travel to Norman moving forward. So if you’re looking to make a cut, I wouldn’t blame you for sitting this one out.

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