This is an opinion column.

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The stock market crash caused by President Donald Trump’s international tariff war on America’s new enemies (and those penguins) seems about as fun as a bag of razors.

In the SEC footprint, I have to wonder if a football program like Alabama will suffer more cuts than some of the other elite Southern programs. Is Trump killing Alabama football?

So much blood.

So many portfolios in the red.

Is it really time to start getting creative with turnips and lima beans?

Political corruption isn’t much fun to cover. College football, though? This is the Deep South. Just tell me how this is all going to affect the standings in the SEC and entry into the College Football Playoff.

Do the odds of Alabama and Auburn winning the SEC increase thanks to the tariff wars? Let’s face it, college football is all about the money these days and the spending power of these teams, or at least most of them, is tied to the health of the economy.

Alabama is a poor state. We know how to grow turnips, but can the Crimson Tide ride out the storm? I’m no international economist, but I do know that it takes money to win football games. Is Alabama in a position to compete with the SEC’s economic superpowers if Trump destroys Alabama’s already poor-ish economy to, in the grand scheme of things, build it back even better?

Trump says he loves the South and Alabama. Maybe he should consider the culture of the state and get Uncle Elon to throw us some scraps.

Rome had the Colosseum. We no longer watch people kill each other to take our minds off things, but we do have football keep us entertained.

And, over the past few years, basketball, too.

I’m starting to see signs of leaner times, though.

Last week, Alabama basketball couldn’t even afford to keep its best hustle player, who is now off to Kentucky. Auburn hoops would have liked former UAB hoops star Yaxel Lendeborg, but Michigan won out. What happens when it’s time for the football transfer window?

The spring transfer window runs from April 16 to 25, and I’m bracing myself for more bad news. To keep other teams from watching their players in live scrimmages, Alabama and Auburn have altered their A-Days for Saturday. No more games, but fans can go watch players run drills.

Too paranoid, you say? Is corporate secrecy worth ruining proud SEC traditions? Well, maybe if Alabama and Auburn had cash to burn things would be different.

Prepare your fall calendar accordingly, or, you know, consider selling your Chevy, buying a used Tesla on the cheap and donating the extra cash to your favorite athletics program.

Which teams in the SEC are going to come out on top amid all the economic chaos? Who’s going to take advantage of these unprecedented times?

We have theories, of course, and it’s not Alabama.

Y’all might have thought it was a joke last week when we suggested that Alabama should consider having Nick Saban recruit Uncle Elon. Welcome to Tesla-Bryant-Denny Stadium at Nick Saban Field? For a couple billion, the kids could get used to it.

Let’s face it. The Tide doesn’t have as many mega donors as some of the other schools in the SEC. Arkansas has Wal-Mart and Tyson Chicken. Texas and Texas A&M have the oil money and tech billions. The Tide gets by on its die-hards. There’s a lot of them, but if we learned anything from Alabama’s failed attempt to build a new basketball arena, there’s only so much money to go around.

Alabama basketball has never been better. The Tide made the Final Four last season and was one win away from returning to the national semifinals in 2025. For years, Alabama tried to build a basketball arena to match the environment at Auburn.

First, we heard that the holdup was inflated construction costs. Then it was the new economy of the NIL.

Now the Tide is settling for a new practice facility. The reason is because the Tide’s cash reserves have been redirected to roster development in the form of player procurement. Dodge Chargers alone don’t do much these days and the economic reality of collegiate athletics is about to change things all over again.

Schools across the SEC and country will begin sharing revenue with players this spring after the settlement of House v. NCAA. Alabama and Auburn will be paying its athletes from a pool of $20.5 million. We’ll call it a soft cap. Can the Heart of Dixie’s SEC delegation keep up with Georgia, Florida Tennessee and the Texas schools?

And what about Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon?

Is Alabama suddenly second tier? We’ll know after watching new quarterback Ty Simpson in his first competitive game.

Schools of the mega wealthy are going to be able to exceed the cap using extra NIL cash. Other places are figuring out how to cut costs. It’s not that Alabama football is going away. It’s just that Alabama football probably can’t compete financially for the best of the best the way it did during the Saban years.

And that was before the stock market cratered this week after Trump’s so-called Liberation Day.

How are Trump’s new tariffs going to affect the giving power of Alabama’s fanbase? It’s a major question going into the spring and fall. Pocket books are taking a hit at the exact moment that college athletics are evolving into pro sports.

Season tickets or games on TV?

And don’t forget about the Iron Bowl.

It seems like Auburn is in a better position for football success during the Trump years.

Auburn’s biggest donor is billionaire Jimmy Rane, the wealthiest person in Alabama. The “Yella Fella” is a pine baron and former attorney with a Harvard education in ownership management. Considering the Trump Administration just opened up half of the national forests in the United States for logging, I’d say that Auburn football and Rane are in a pretty good situation.

I’m not rooting for deforestation, per se, but if it means a couple natties for the Tigers, well, trees grow back, right?

BE HEARD

Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”