Alabama football’s 2024 season is halfway done. The Crimson Tide stands at 5-1, coming off a win over South Carolina.

Next up, the teeth of the SEC schedule. UA travels to Tennessee Saturday, seeking revenge for its 2022 loss at Neyland Stadium.

After that, the rest of the season includes matchups with Missouri, LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn and more. Before the second half of the campaign, here are three bold predictions for the Tide’s final six matchups of the regular season.

The defense will improve. Will it be fast enough?

Since halftime of the Georgia game, Alabama’s defense has struggled mightily. From coverage busts to difficulty stopping the run, things have been a mess.

But the talent is there. The Crimson Tide has the players, though much of the defensive backfield is young, and it’s shown early in the year.

That issue will get fixed as the DBs gain experience. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack is also fully capable of resolving some of the Tide’s other problems, especially as players get more used to his scheme.

The question is whether improvement will come soon enough. Tennessee has struggled lately, but can blow opponents out if they’re not careful, and the schedule doesn’t get much easier from there.

The Vanderbilt loss will look better with age

Alabama should never lose to Vanderbilt. That’s a totally reasonable expectation for Crimson Tide fans to have, given the differences between the two programs.

But this year’s Commodore squad is a bit different. That’s not an excuse for UA, which shouldn’t have lost the game, but it does mean the defeat might not be as bad as previously thought.

Vanderbilt is on the verge of entering the top 25. It has a real shot at at least one more SEC win, with Auburn visiting FirstBank Stadium later in the season.

If Alabama is a fringe player for the College Football Playoff, the loss is going to hurt. However, the 2024 Commodores have the potential to look much better at season’s end than previously thought.

The Iron Bowl won’t be a cakewalk

Auburn is not good at football this season. The Crimson Tide and Tigers will face off at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which usually keeps away the weirdness that has plagued UA on the Plains.

Still, Hugh Freeze’s record as a head coach suggests it won’t be easy for DeBoer in his first Iron Bowl. Freeze has trouble getting his team ready to play the games it should win easily, like last year’s New Mexico State game, or the time his 2015 Ole Miss squad lost to Memphis after beating Alabama.

Even last season’s Music City Bowl defeat, after which he blamed recruiting for not allowing him to fully participate in game-planning, suggests he has a tendency to look ahead. If that’s happening this season, the game he’s preparing for is the one he was hired to win.

Alabama has lost once already to a team it held a talent advantage over. The Crimson Tide should not take its biggest rivalry game for granted.