Paul Finebaum: Alabama’s travel plans tells Mississippi State that Tide is ‘thinking about Georgia’

Alabama’s travel plans for Saturday’s game at Mississippi State have been well-chronicled this week because it’s unusual.

Rather than make the trip from Tuscaloosa to the Starkville area on Friday night as most teams do, the Crimson Tide stayed home the night before the game. The Alabama team got up Saturday morning and made the roughly 80-mile trip prior to an 11 a.m. kickoff at Davis Wade Stadium.

On Saturday’s edition of SEC Nation, SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum posited that Alabama’s travel plans might be an indication they’re looking ahead to next week’s home showdown with two-time defending SEC champion Georgia.

“I think it tells Mississippi State ‘we don’t even care enough about you to come the night before,’” Finebaum said. “We’re thinking about Georgia. It came out last night, the president of the United States is coming to the Georgia game . Alabama fans are talking about the Georgia game.

“And that’s not disrespect. It’s just that Alabama expects to beat Mississippi State. Why? Because they’ve done it for 19 straight years and they think they’re going to do it again today.”

Indeed, Alabama has not lost to Mississippi State since 2007, which was Nick Saban’s first year as head coach. The two teams did not play in 2024 or 2025, however, meaning the Crimson Tide’s win streak over the Bulldogs is actually 16 straight games.

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Though many believe whether or not Alabama makes the trip Friday or Saturday is overblown for such a short drive, SEC Network analyst Roman Harper noted that players thrive on routine. Harper, an All-SEC safety for the Crimson Tide in 2005, said any disruption of a regular game-day build-up is worth noting.

“They didn’t get here last night; they stayed in Tuscaloosa this morning,” Harper said. “They will do a walk through this morning (in Tuscaloosa). They’ve already done it. Then they’re going to get on the buses, drive on over, a couple of police escorts. And this is just different than what we as football players are used to traditionally doing. And those are the things that makes me worry a little bit.”

The Alabama-Mississippi State game will air on ABC.

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Creg Stephenson became college sports managing producer for AL.com in 2026. A veteran of more than 30 years as a sports writer, he is a past president of the Alabama Sports Writers Association and has won...

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