Believe it or not, we are nearing the halfway point of the 2022 college football season. Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide currently sit with a perfect 5-0 record and after its impressive win on the road over Arkansas, have regained the No. 1 ranking in the country.

Now the Crimson Tide will turn their attention to one of the most anticipated matchups of the college football season as they prepare for Texas A&M to travel to Tuscaloosa this weekend.

We all remember the last-second loss that the Aggies handed the Tide last season in College Station. And who could ever forget the summer beef between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher over how the Aggies have been using NIL to help win recruiting battles?

With the matchup drawing closer and closer every day, let’s take a look at the top storylines entering the epic matchup.

The health of Tide QB Bryce Young

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Perhaps the biggest storyline of the entire college football season is the health of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. With a game of this magnitude on the horizon, it becomes an even bigger storyline. The outlook on the matchup will certainly change if it is Jalen Milroe who gets the start over the injured Young.

How does Texas A&M respond to a poor showing against Mississippi State

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The matchup has lost just a little bit of its luster due to the fact that the Aggies have already dropped two games this season. The most recent coming against Mississippi State who clobbered the Aggies 42-24. It will be interesting to see how they respond after a tough loss.

Bryant-Denny Stadium

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It’s not very often that fans of the Crimson Tide have the opportunity to enter a home contest at night against an opponent that defeated them the last time they played. The atmosphere under the lights of Bryant-Denny Stadium should play a major factor in the contest on Saturday night.

The Saban-Fisher feud

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Both Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher have publicly said that they have moved on from the controversy that occurred this summer. Everyone remembers the video that leaked of coach Saban declaring that Fisher and the Aggies “bought” their entire recruiting class. Fisher didn’t take too kindly to Saban’s remarks and would call his old boss a “narcissist”.

I do believe the beef between the two is all but over, but that doesn’t mean the players on each side have forgotten.

Revenge for the Tide

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There’s not a player on the Alabama team that hasn’t had this game circled since last October. The Crimson Tide dominated the stat line in last year’s matchup but a kick return for a touchdown and a couple of costly mistakes gave the Aggies time to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired. Revenge is a tricky thing. It can consume you and take your focus off what is important to winning the contest which is discipline and execution. But I have no doubt that Alabama will play with a little extra on Saturday night.

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