What makes AL's schedule such a joke isn't just who they play....... it's where those games fall on the schedule. AL plays 2 teams ranked in the preseason top 25..... A&M and LSU. AL just happens to have a bye week before both of those games. VT is decent to pretty good, but AL had all of fall camp to prepare for them. AL played a nonconference patsy before playing OM (Colorado St) and KY (Georgia St) and plays a nonconference patsy before playing AU (UT Chattanooga). So AL pretty much had a minimum of 2 weeks to prepare for VT, A&M, OM, KY, LSU, and AU. History has shown that giving Saban 2 or more weeks to prepare is almost a guaranteed win.
That leaves 3 games where AL doesn't have 2 weeks to prepare...... Ark, TN, and MSU. Both the Ark and TN games are in Ttown. Ark and TN will also in all likelihood finish the season with 1 or 2 SEC wins each. AL having to travel to Starkville a week after playing LSU is the only thing on the schedule that resembles anything close to a trap game. But AL will obviously have a big talent advantage in that one.
AL's schedule is a complete joke. I've honestly never seen another one like it in the SEC. It doesn't hurt that Mark Womack, who is in charge of SEC scheduling, is from Ttown, graduated from AL, and used to work in the AL athletics dept. And as long as I'm pointing out blatant AL favoritism...... SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw graduated from AL as well. The sooner the SEC office is forced to leave Birmingham the better off the rest of the SEC will be...... but it'll never happen.