Alabama News

In the 1800s, builders in the United States began putting roofs on bridges to protect the wooden floors and trusses from the elements. It was easier and less expensive to maintain the covers than the bridge spans.

The location of Alabama’s first covered bridge is disputed. Townspeople say the bridge over Buzzard Roost Creek in Colbert County was built circa 1820, but the National Park Service estimated its origins in 1860. The Buzzard Roost bridge, a 94-foot span, was damaged by a flood in 1965 and restored by the county. It was later moved to the Natchez Trace Parkway and destroyed by arson in 1972.

Click through the photo gallery at the top of this story to see vintage photos of Alabama’s bridges.

Alabama’s covered bridges are reminiscent of a more romantic time, when people rode in horse-drawn buggies and couples stole kisses beneath their roofs.

But they are also keepers of history, places built by formerly enslaved people, or where Civil War soldiers trod and, according to legend, outlaws were hanged.

A 1936 Associated Press article described Alabama’s love affair with covered bridges: “Alabamians began building covered bridges almost as soon as they began building Baptist and Methodist churches and one-room school houses. A bridge without a roof was not a thing for a county to be proud of and, besides, when a shower came what were travelers in open buggies to do for shelter? And day and night, wasn’t a covered bridge a rendezvous for lovers while youngsters concealed themselves among the rafters to listen in?”

Historians estimate there were once as many as 14,000 wooden covered bridges in the United States. Of those, about 880 remain, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Covered Bridge Manual.

The state’s oldest covered bridge still standing today was built before 1850, possibly as early as 1839. The 60-foot Coldwater Creek bridge is located in Calhoun County. It was moved to Oxford Lake Park in 1990 and is maintained by the City of Oxford. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

MORE: Take a road trip to North Alabama’s picturesque covered bridges

A 1969 article in The Times Daily in Florence reported that by 1958, 46 covered bridges remained in 13 Alabama counties. From 1958 to 1968, the state lost three bridges per year to neglect, floods, fires, vandalism and demolition, the article stated. Since then new bridges have been built and a few others have been lost.

Click here for a list of existing covered bridges that are more than 50 years old.

Here is a list of some of the bridges we’ve lost in Alabama. The date of destruction was not known in many of the cases. If you have information on any of these bridges, please email me at [email protected].

READ: Take a road trip to South Alabama’s picturesque covered bridges

Autauga Creek Covered Bridge

This covered bridge was located over Autauga Creek in Autauga County. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Big Bear Creek Covered Bridge

Big Bear Creek Covered Bridge in Allsboro in Colbert County. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Brookwood Covered Bridge

Brookwood Covered Bridge over Hurricane Creek in Tuscaloosa County burned in the 1960s. Date built is unknown.

Buzzard Roost Covered Bridge

This 94-foot-long span southwest of Cherokee in Colbert County was built circa 1860, according to the National Park Service. Some locals claimed it was built in 1820. The bridge was destroyed by arson July 15, 1972.

Chattahoochee Covered Bridge

This bridge was built near Eufaula over the Chattahoochee by famed bridge builder Horace King, who was once enslaved, in 1833. It was torn down in 1924.

Cofer Covered Bridge

The location of Cofer Covered Bridge was not listed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Cowickie Creek Covered Bridge

This covered bridge spanned Cowickie Creek in Eufaula. It was demolished in 1913.

Cripple Deer Creek Covered Bridge

This bridge spanned Choccolocco Creek in Eastaboga in Talladega County.

Dillingham Street Covered Bridge

This bridge was built in 1870 by formerly enslaved bridge builder Horace King. It spanned the Chattahoochee River between Columbus, Ga., and Girard (now Phenix City), Ala. It was dismantled in 1924.

Duck Springs Covered Bridge

Built in 1879, this 119-foot bridge spanned Big Wills Creek between Duck Springs and Keener in Etowah County. It was destroyed by arson July 7, 1972.

Garden City Covered Bridge

Garden City Covered Bridge spanned the Mulberry Fork of Black Warrior River in Cullman County, Ala. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Golden’s Mill Covered Bridge

This bridge spanned Sougahatchee Creek on Alabama Highway 49 in Tallapoosa County. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Hillabee Creek Covered Bridge

This bridge was located in Tallapoosa County. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Liddy’s Bridge

This 50-foot span was built in 1926 over Big Branch in Blount County, about three miles from the Cullman County line. In 1958 when a new road was built, Liddy Walker purchased the bridge for $50 and moved it to Liddy’s Lake, according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. What happened to it is unknown.

Meadows Mill Covered Bridge

Built in 1902 by W.W. King, son of famed bridge builder Horace King, this 140-foot-long Meadows Mill Bridge was destroyed by arson Oct. 4, 1973. Dates built and location unknown.

Miller Covered Bridge

Miller Covered Bridge collapsed in July 1963. Dates built and location unknown.

Norman’s Covered Bridge

This bridge over Catoma Creek was built by Job Norman, who settled on land near the present-day intersection of East South Boulevard and South Court Street in Montgomery, according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. “He constructed the bridge to facilitate visits with friends who had settled in southern Montgomery County,” the ADAH said. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Pea Ridge Covered Bridge

This bridge was located about three miles from U.S. Highway 280, south of Opelika. Pea Ridge Covered Bridge was constructed with wooden pegs over Wacoochee Creek. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Pintlala Creek Covered Bridge

This bridge was located on Old Selma Road in Montgomery County. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Standridge Covered Bridge

This 432-foot-covered bridge over the Locust Fork of Black Warrior River was located near Hayden in Blount County. Built in 1934, it was destroyed by arson on the night of Nov. 18, 1967, according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Talladega Covered Bridge

This span in the Talladega National Forest near Oxford, Ala., was located in Calhoun County. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Tallushatchee Creek Covered Bridge

This covered bridge was located in Jacksonville, Ala. Dates built and demolished unknown.

Wasden Road Covered Bridge

This bridge over Pintlala Creek was unusual because it had a flat roof. Dates built and demolished unknown.

In Alabama, there are about two fatal motorcycle crashes in an average week, according to a database maintained by the University of Alabama.

AL.com reviewed five years of data on bike crashes collated by the institution’s Center for Advanced Public Safety—from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2025. It shows approximately 30 crashes per week.

The data conveys how many crashes are fatal but no information about the number of people who died in each.

These are what the data shows:

• May has the highest number of crashes.
• September has the most fatalities.
• April has the highest fatality rate from crashes.
• May has the lowest fatality rate from crashes, despite having the highest number of crashes.
• Most of the 7,777 collisions and 457 fatal crashes occurred on Saturday.
• Tuesday records the lowest number of crashes.
• Wednesday has the lowest crash fatality rate.
• Though Monday recorded a comparatively low number of crashes, more of them were fatal than on other days.

Two in three motorcycle crashes result in fatalities or injuries, compared to one in nine for all crash types.

The five years of data recorded 720,030 crashes from all causes, of which 564,713 had only property damage reported, or four in every five crashes.

The pattern flipped for motorcycle crashes, where there are more injuries than not. Out of 7,777 crashes, there are 2,127 property-damage-only incidents, or about one in every four.

While one in 17 motorbike crashes end in death, it’s 1 in 163 for all road crashes. Motorcycle crashes are, therefore, 864%, or 9.6 times, more likely to result in death.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What is the proper way to exit a church at the end of a service? My boyfriend thinks that you must let everyone in the adjacent pew (the one closer to the doors) exit before you do. I view it more like a street intersection, but less formal, where groups of people take turns exiting. In my view, you should not try to rush, bump or push people out of the way, but you should also go with the flow and not hold people up.

My boyfriend thought I was very rude, and berated me in the parking lot, because I did not let all of the people in the next pew exit first. Instead, I followed the woman in front of me. She had invited the people in the other pew to go first, but they said no, waving her ahead. I followed her out without stopping to invite the same people to exit first.

Was I rude?

GENTLE READER: Miss Manners agrees that if someone asks people to go ahead, then the request should be obeyed, as it may mask a need for more time to disembark. You would hardly want to get into a pushing match in church with an elderly couple by insisting that you are not going anywhere until they get a move on.

Why you would want a boyfriend who berates you is another question.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Dear Eric: I am the youngest of three sons, and both of my brothers passed away suddenly, with the latest one just three years ago. Now I find myself thrust into the role of executor for my parents who are both about to turn 90. I have conducted significant research on what is needed to be in place both legally and financially and have consulted with friends who also have aging parents.

However, my parents don’t want to talk about these issues, and I am really in the dark on what they have in place. My father handled most of the issues, but now suffers from dementia, so there are a lot of unknowns. Recently I sent them a list of items we should look into – power of attorney, living will, health care proxy, etc.

My mother is overwhelmed with taking care of my father, so I have offered to speak directly with their lawyer and financial planner to lessen her burden, but while they initially seemed receptive, there has been little movement on these tasks.

I don’t want to pressure them, but I am really anxious about this and want to deal with these important decisions while they are still in good health.

– Treading Lightly

Dear Treading: I’m sorry for the losses you’ve experienced and for the complication of this grief-laden moment. Planning for later life with parents is rarely easy, but you’ve taken excellent proactive steps.

To help lessen the overwhelm you and your parents are feeling, tackle one small task at a time. I’d suggest you start with power of attorney. As you may already be aware, it can be a relatively simple process for which you can tackle most of the paperwork. With their blessing and their signatures, you’ll then be allowed to talk to their lawyer and financial planner, and this will give you a clearer picture of what they’ve already put into place.

Be clear with them about the concerns you have, the questions you need answered and the guidance you’re seeking. They can help you think through next steps for your parents and, hopefully, also take some things off of your plate.

You don’t have to take care of everything, and you don’t have to do everything right now. It’s not going to be perfect; nothing ever is. Don’t listen to any internal voice that says if you miss a to-do item, you’re failing your parents or creating a problem for yourself.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

Long-snappers rarely get mentioned unless they make a mistake, so we must first point out that Carson Tinker was nearly perfect during his four years at Alabama.

Tinker, the Crimson Tide’s starting snapper on punts and place kicks from 2010-12, is credited with executing 133 of 135 snap attempts during his career. The latter two of those seasons ended in national championships, giving Tinker — who wore No. 51 at Alabama — a third ring after the one he received as a redshirt freshman in 2009.

Tinker — who finished high school in Tennessee but spent much of his childhood in Alabama — later spent 11 years in the NFL, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams at the end of the 2021 season.

But it is for the events of April 27, 2011, and their aftermath that Tinker is most widely known. A massive EF4 tornado ravaged Tuscaloosa, severely injured Tinker and killed his girlfriend, fellow Alabama student Ashley Harrison.

Tinker’s home on 25th Street in Tuscaloosa took a direct hit from the storm, literally ripping Harrison from Tinker’s arms. Tinker was thrown more than 50 yards, and woke up in at DCH Regional Medical Center with a broken wrist, an injured ankle, cuts on his head and a concussion.

In addition, he learned that Harrison, who was 22, had been killed. She was among 348 people — 53 in Tuscaloosa and six of them University of Alabama students — who died as a result of the massive storm system that tore across Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi that day.

“They both got thrown from the house,” Alabama teammate Colin Peek told reporters soon after. “He didn’t understand what happened. He had a concussion and got knocked out before he was taken away. She died instantly. Luckily she didn’t suffer.”

Tinker recovered from his injuries in time to run out of the tunnel with his teammates and play in the Sept. 3, 2011 season-opener vs. Kent State. He didn’t miss a game in either of the next two seasons, as Alabama went a combined 25-2 and won back-to-back national championships.

Tinker also poured himself into helping the Tuscaloosa community recover from the storms, working alongside numerous Alabama teammates with Coach Nick Saban’s Nick’s Kids Foundation and other organizations to raise money, clear debris, distribute relief supplies and rebuild housing and local businesses. He also visited with a 10-year-old Tuscaloosa boy who had lost his sister and both parents during the storm.

That December, he accepted a Disney Spirit Award on the team’s behalf at ESPN’s College Football Awards Show.

“It really is inspiring to see the impact I can have on people outside football,” Tinker said in 2012. “I’ve said this a long time ago and it’s been my mantra: to be a blessing to people. That’s something I try to do every day.”

Prior to his senior season at Alabama, Tinker was awarded a scholarship by Saban. It was a relief for Tinker, who had bet on himself after turning down scholarship offers from smaller programs out of high school in order to walk on with the Crimson Tide.

“We’re very excited that we’re able to award a guy that has been such a positive influence in so many ways,” Saban said at the time. “Personally, academically and athletically in our program.”

Added Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, “Carson has been through a lot and he’s bounced back really well from everything he’s been through and all that life’s thrown at him, all the adversity. He’s done a great job of handling everything.”

Tinker’s college career ended in triumph, a 42-14 rout of Notre Dame in the 2013 College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Fla. A little more than a year later, he published a book (written with Tommy Ford and featuring a foreword by Saban) about his experiences playing football at Alabama and with the tornado titled A Season to Remember: Faith in the Midst of the Storm.

“Kind of the whole theme for me was, you either live in vision or you live in circumstance,” Tinker told AL.com in 2014. “For me, this is part of my vision. I wanted to help people and in the process of writing the book, I actually learned a lot more of the little details that I missed at first glance. It was a blessing to me to even go back and have a little bit more of a realization of what went on.”

And he didn’t shy away from writing extensively about his Harrison’s death.

“I went through every detail in the book,” Tinker said. “I really want the book to be a positive thing, but I felt like in order to do that, I had to go through the little details of exactly what happened on the day of the tornado, talking about my injuries and my loss.

“I feel like only the wounded have the power to heal and I wanted people to be to see what I think is the worst in my life and how God took that and used it for good. In order to do that, people had to see how I really was struggling.”

Tinker retired from football in August 2024, and has regularly made public-speaking appearances and worked with various charities and youth groups over the years. He married the former Annie Bates in 2015.

Coming Friday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 50, an Alabama quarterback who piled up touchdowns on the way to a Heisman Trophy.

DEAR ABBY: I am 57 and have been married for 32 years to my husband, who retired from his full-time job last year. I still work full time. Since his retirement, he has been going to a bar once a week or so, spending a few hours visiting with the customers and staff.

One of the staff has taken an interest in being his “buddy.” My husband is outgoing and somewhat flirtatious. The staff member is a younger, female bartender who he invites to our home bar for drinks. They have also established a social media relationship and send text messages.

When I had an out-of-town trip planned, they concocted a plan for her to come over for cocktails with another of our friends. They planned to keep it a secret because “I might become upset.” I found out and DID become upset and have remained so.

I have discovered other messages, and I no longer trust my husband. I don’t think they are in a physical relationship, but despite his reassurances, I can’t let go of what might have been shared about me and feel a deep sense of betrayal. How can I move forward? — SUSPICIOUS IN WASHINGTON

DEAR SUSPICIOUS: What the bartender and your husband are doing is inappropriate. It might be worthwhile to ask her employer whether there are any rules about their staff socializing with patrons outside the establishment. As to your lack of trust in your “flirtatious” husband, under these circumstances it is understandable. Marriage counseling may help to repair your relationship. Offer him the option of going with you, and if he refuses, go alone.

Read more Dear Abby and other advice columns.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

This is an opinion column

We all hope to live long lives, at least as long as we’re healthy. But in Alabama, the life expectancy is only 75.2 years, according to U.S. News and World Report. This puts us among the ten states with the shortest lifespans. We rank about 48th, along with other states who don’t have easy access to health care and live close to the poverty line, asking ourselves what we can afford to buy: groceries, gas, or blood pressure meds?

Of course, some people shorten their lives or someone else’s by smoking, excessive drinking, careless driving, or picking up a gun that’s not loaded, except it is.

But there are other places where people live long and productive lives. Sweden is one of them. And one of its citizens, the writer Margareta Magnusson, tells readers how to age exuberantly, as she puts it. “The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly—Life Wisdom from Someone Who Will Probably Die Before You,” is her second book, the first being “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.” In spite of its grim title, it’s a practical, instructive book about cleaning out your drawers, closets, and garage space while you’re living so that your children don’t have to do it when you aren’t.

Magnusson gives her age as “somewhere between 80 and 100.” One book reviewer said she was “about 91.” Whatever her age, her life wisdom fits all ages. In fact, I’m buying several copies for Christmas gifts for people in my age category so we can live exuberantly in the time we have left.

She’s lived all over, and she writes about providing a home for her husband and five children in Annapolis, Singapore, and her native Sweden. In each place she’s lived, she emphasizes the importance of volunteering. In Annapolis, while still struggling with learning proper English, she volunteered in the library of her children’s school. On weekends, she volunteered to take her children and their friends to the movies, hoping that would improve her English. When she paid for the tickets for a film called “Alice in Wonderland,” the usher whispered that she might not want to take the children to that film. It was a pornographic version of the children’s tale.

As the family moved again and the children grew up, she lost her dear friend and husband, Lars, and eventually moved into an apartment in Stockholm. Here she began her practice of living-and aging-exuberantly. Just because she was on a walker, that didn’t mean she couldn’t exercise. Covid kept her inside, but she (and the walker) could dance and exercise along with TV programs that showed her how.

She could keep up with old friends by phone and did so once a week. She and her childhood friend get together for a drink—gin and tonic—even though they live in different countries. A phone visit still connects these two and they each have their drinks ready to sip when the conversation begins.

She takes care of something everyday. Plants need nurturing and people need to nurture. She’d like to have a cat, but wouldn’t be able to bend down to feed it, to let it outside in her busy neighborhood, or play with it. So she has imaginary cats, who are a lot easier.

She recommends practicing the Swedish habit of doing painful things but being glad you can still do them. Paying your bills on time can be a bother, but be glad you have the money to do so.Taking care of a sick loved one can be a pain, but be glad you’re able to do it. Each and every burden has a flip side. Forgetting names is a burden, but suddenly remembering them is a joy. Cherish the burden and the joy.

Do what gives you joy: Wear stripes. Eat chocolate. Surround yourself with younger people. Don’t be that eighty-something person who declares that everything was better in the old days.

Young people don’t want to hear that. They live in these days. You should, too.

This is a short book—only 141 pages—since Magnusson says old people don’t want to read long books. Maybe so. But it’s a good, practical book that reveals the author’s sense of humor about life in the later years. Whether you live in sweet home Alabama, or Stockholm, Sweden, you get older every single day, and this book can guide you on your way.

Readers can contact Beth Thames at [email protected]

Dear Eric: I am 40 and physically disabled. I need a powered wheelchair to get around

both outside and inside my apartment. Recently, my tires were popped by some broken glass from a bottle thrown out of a passing car onto the sidewalk. It has been a week since I have been able to use my wheelchair, and I have another 20 days before my new tires arrive.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be infuriated that someone’s litter caused me to spend $200 on replacement tires.

My caregiver disagrees. He says that it’s my fault for continuing and not turning around. He also said that I am overreacting, when the most I have done is complain a little bit for maybe an hour total and make a joking “whoever threw the bottle on the sidewalk owes me $200” comment once.

Am I being too sensitive about this? I think being upset about having to spend $200 that I don’t have to replace something necessary for my continued function in and outside of my apartment due to litter is understandable, but I would like to ask for your thoughts on the matter to be sure.

– Tire’d

Dear Tire’d: Let me get this straight. Your caregiver, who understands the challenges you face navigating a world that is often not accommodating, thinks that you don’t have the right to be peeved about this? Litter, particularly broken glass, is a problem for everyone and any one of us could and should be upset about having to navigate a sidewalk strewn with jagged pieces, even if it didn’t cost us $200 or a temporary restriction in mobility.

What happened wasn’t fair and it had a greater impact on you than it would on someone who could just step to the side or crunch the glass under a boot. Your caregiver needs to acknowledge that some things in the world affect you differently. This is what empathy is. One doesn’t need firsthand experience to be empathetic, but in this case he has to be able to see how hard this one battle has made your life.

I hope that this is an isolated incident in your relationship and he’s able to be supportive in other ways. Because care is about more than physical assistance. It’s also about being willing to say, “I see you. I hear you. What you’re feeling is valid.”

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

While we await word on whether the NCAA is going to foolishly, needlessly, heedlessly, almost predictably tinker with the best postseason in sports, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, let’s check in on a playoff that’s far from perfect and actually needs scrutiny.

It’s the one run by college football.

The latest pronouncement on the subject came from Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. His conference kicked off July Media Days mania this week, and during his address there, he continued to lobby strongly for a future format in 2026 and beyond that’s popular among SEC football coaches.

It’s the so-called 5+11, a 16-team model that awards five automatic bids to the highest-ranked conference champions and adds 11 at-large selections chosen by the playoff committee. The ACC seems on board with that format. The Big Ten appears to favor the unbalanced, anti-competitive 4-4-2-2-1-3 model, which would reserve four bids each for the Big Ten and SEC, two each for the Big 12 and ACC and one for the Group of Five with three at-large teams.

The SEC has yet to go public with an official position. Stay tuned for Greg Sankey’s State of the Conference address Monday at Media Days in Atlanta.

Yormark took the lead in Frisco, Texas.

“We continue to believe the 5+11 model is the right playoff format,” he said. “We want to earn it on the field. We do not need a professional model. We are not the NFL. We are college football, and we must act like it.”

Put aside for the moment that, led by the likes of big-spending Big 12 member Texas Tech, college football as an enterprise now acts as a quasi-professional operation. Yormark may lead a conference that belongs to the second tier of the Power 4, but his opinion will matter when the decision-makers get around to figuring out a playoff format for the future.

Their deadline for 2026 is Dec. 1.

What Yormark didn’t say, and what we haven’t heard from fellow power conference commissioners Sankey, Tony Petitti of the Big Ten and Jim Phillips of the ACC, is a reasonable, rational explanation for a significant leap from a 12-team playoff to a 16-team event.

Money is often the answer no matter the question, and it applies here to the argument that bigger is better. But beyond the expected cash grab, wouldn’t it make more sense to let the 12-team playoff run through at least a four-year cycle to assess its advantages and disadvantages?

After one go-round, the rankings vs. seedings confusion of last year’s playoff already has been cleared up. Leave it to college football to come up with a playoff system in which Texas was ranked No. 3 but seeded No. 5 while Arizona State was ranked No. 12 but seeded No. 4.

The math didn’t add up, but the Sun Devils did put up an admirable fight before falling to the Longhorns in the quarterfinals.

This season, you will be what the final College Football Playoff committee’s final rankings say you are, for the most part. The five highest-ranked conference champions again will be guaranteed a spot – to include a Group of Six team in the field – but the seeding will match the rankings. That is unless, say, the ACC champion is ranked No. 16 on Selection Sunday, in which case that team will bump the lowest-ranked would-be at-large selection out of the field.

It’s a common-sense adjustment. No offense to Arizona State and Boise State, but they didn’t deserve a first-round bye last December. Texas and Penn State, ranked third and fourth, did.

Last season, all four teams with a first-round bye lost in the quarterfinals, but the odd seedings vs. rankings bracket skewed the matchups. Top-ranked Oregon had to play its first playoff game against dangerous sixth-ranked but eighth-seeded Ohio State in the quarterfinals. It did not go well for the Ducks, and the Buckeyes went on to win it all.

Under this year’s format, Oregon still would’ve received a first-round bye but would’ve opened against the winner of an 8 vs. 9 game between Indiana and Boise State.

Unless someone taps the brakes on the rush to jump to a 16-team playoff in 2026, the sport and its fans will have no opportunity to marinate on this season’s updated 12-team format. Just a year ago, they tripled the field from four to 12. What’s the hurry to quadruple the bracket from four to 16 in a three-year span from 2023-26? Isn’t there enough chaotic change going on in this sport at the moment?

Think about the slow and steady evolution of college football’s postseason. The BCS, essentially a two-team playoff, lasted for 16 years from 1998-2013. While the ever-changing, double-sided selection system of man and machine didn’t always get it right, the introduction of a true annual national championship game helped the sport grow tremendously.

Because undefeated Auburn didn’t get a chance to win the 2004 title and one-loss Alabama got a second chance in 2011, college football realized that two playoff teams was two too few.

So in 2014 they doubled the field, increasing the buzz and the revenue, despite all those lopsided semifinals, and the four-team playoff lived for 10 years. Selection controversy remained, which was not necessarily a bad thing, unless you were undefeated 2023 Florida State.

The initial iteration of the 12-team playoff in 2024 showed promise, but the convoluted bracket helped water down the drama. Nine of the 11 games were decided by double-digits. Hopefully, this year’s improved format will offer a positive course correction and deliver more fourth-quarter fireworks.

Since the Power 4 can’t seem to agree on an optimal 16-team format for 2026, why expand at all? Why not let the 12-team playoff breathe and grow and show whether it might not be the perfect number?

Basketball arrives at a Sweet 16 after the first week of March Madness. Football might thrive quite nicely with a Dandy Dozen at the start – unless the blowouts continue and 12 proves to be too many in terms of quality matchups and empty days between rounds.

As Yormark said, they’re already involved in a deep dive on the selection criteria “to figure out how they can modernize and contemporize and how they use data and how certain metrics can be more heavily weighted.”

It would be smart if he and the other wise men in charge took the same approach to gather enough data points to determine whether 12 is too few, too many or just right.

Former Clay-Chalkville High School star Nico Collins joined 11 Crimson Tide alumni as the players from Alabama high schools and colleges chosen for the Pro Bowl for the 2024 season.

Last season’s Pro Bowl players with Alabama football roots, with number of selections, included:

• Detroit Lions strong safety Brian Branch (Alabama), first
• Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (Clay-Chalkville), first
• Philadelphia Eagles guard Landon Dickerson (Alabama), third
• Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (Alabama), fifth
• Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (Alabama), second
• Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (Alabama), fifth
• Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (Hoover, Alabama), fourth
• Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (Alabama), third
• Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (Alabama), first
• Green Bay Packers free safety Xavier McKinney (Alabama), first
• Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II (Alabama), third
• New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (Wenonah, Alabama), third

Only two running backs have more Pro Bowl selections this century than Henry. Adrian Peterson had seven, and LeSean McCoy had six. Fitzpatrick is a little farther down the 21st century Pro Bowl safety list, with eight players having at least six selections.

But neither Henry nor Fitzpatrick cracked the top 10 for Pro Bowl selections among players from Alabama high schools and colleges. Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens (Benjamin Russell) and Chris Samuels (Shaw, Alabama) have six Pro Bowl selections apiece, and they aren’t in the state’s top 10 either.

Five players from Alabama high schools and colleges have been chosen nine times apiece for pro football all-star games – either the NFL’s current Pro Bowl Games, the preceding Pro Bowl, the former AFL All-Star Game or the NFL’s old Pro All-Star Game.

Ten players from Alabama high schools and colleges have been selected at least seven times.

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The players with Alabama football roots with the most all-star game selections include:

1. Maxie Baughan, Bessemer High School: Nine Pro Bowl invitations

The linebacker was a Pro Bowler for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1965 and for the Los Angeles Rams in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969.

1. John Hannah, Albertville High School, Alabama: Nine Pro Bowl invitations

The guard was a Pro Bowler for the New England Patriots in 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Hannah was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

1. Walter Jones, Aliceville High School: Nine Pro Bowl invitations

The offensive tackle was a Pro Bowler for the Seattle Seahawks in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

1. Derrick Thomas, Alabama: Nine Pro Bowl invitations

The outside linebacker was a Pro Bowler for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. Thomas was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

1. DeMarcus Ware, Auburn High School, Troy: Nine Pro Bowl invitations

The outside linebacker was a Pro Bowler for the Dallas Cowboys in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and the Denver Broncos in 2014 and 2015. Ware is being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.

6. Buck Buchanan, Parker High School (Birmingham): Eight Pro Bowl invitations

The defensive tackle was a Pro Bowler for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971. Buchanan was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

6. Tyreek Hill, West Alabama: Eight Pro Bowl invitations

The wide receiver was a Pro Bowler for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and the Miami Dolphins in 2022 and 2023.

6. Philip Rivers, Athens High School: Eight Pro Bowl invitations

The quarterback was a Pro Bowler for the San Diego Chargers in 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016 and the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and 2018.

9. Robert Brazile, Vigor High School (Prichard): Seven Pro Bowl invitations

The outside linebacker was a Pro Bowler for the Houston Oilers in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982. Brazile was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

9. Julio Jones, Foley High School, Alabama: Seven Pro Bowl invitations

The wide receiver was a Pro Bowler for the Atlanta Falcons in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X @AMarkG1.