Alabama has four G6 football programs. It's time they acted like it.

Alabama understands what rivalry does for college football. The Iron Bowl built two of the most valuable brands in the sport. It didn't diminish Alabama or Auburn — it made both of them bigger. The shared obsession, the annual stakes, the fact that an entire state picks a side every November: that's what turns programs into institutions.

But even that required a push. Alabama and Auburn didn't play football for 41 years — from 1907 to 1948 — because of a contract dispute over $34. Thirty-four dollars. The state's two largest universities let ego and institutional stubbornness kill one of the most natural rivalries in America for four decades. It took the Alabama House of Representatives passing a resolution in 1947 urging the schools to resume play — with both university presidents fully aware that their annual state funding ran through that same legislature — before the series came back. When it did, it became the biggest game in the state and one of the biggest in the country.

The legislature understood what the universities couldn't see: the state was losing something by not having that game. The attention, the economic activity, the shared identity — all of it was sitting on the table, unclaimed, because two schools couldn't get past their own stubbornness.

That same dynamic is playing out right now — on a smaller scale, with lower stakes, but with the same root cause.

The state of Alabama knows how to compete. At every level. But it also has a habit of competing against itself — a provincialism so deeply ingrained that it shows up in politics, in economic development and in how athletic departments 90 miles apart convince themselves they have nothing to gain from each other. It's a scarcity mentality. If you get something, I must be losing something. And it's killing opportunities that are sitting right there on the table.

Look at the other side of the state's football ledger. UAB, Troy, Jacksonville State, South Alabama — four FBS programs, three conferences and a collective resume that stacks up against any state's Group of 6 portfolio. Conference championships from Troy, Jacksonville State and UAB. Bowl wins. National titles at the FCS level and below. A program that was literally shut down, then rebuilt from nothing. A startup that went from launch to the Sun Belt in half a dozen years. Two programs with deep playoff runs and championship history that most Power 4 fan bases would kill for.

This is not a weak collection of programs hoping to survive. This is real football. The state of Alabama might be the best G6 football state in the country.

These four schools just don't act like it.

Start with the big boys

Before we get to the G6, let's talk about the elephant in the state.

The University of Alabama has not played an in-state football opponent other than Auburn since 1944. That was Howard College — now Samford — in a 63-7 game in Birmingham. Eighty-two years ago. Alabama has never played Troy. Never played UAB. Never played Jacksonville State. Never played South Alabama. Never played Alabama A&M or Alabama State. The most powerful program in the state doesn't acknowledge that any other football program in Alabama exists, aside from the one it's contractually obligated to play every year.

Auburn, to its credit, does the opposite. The Tigers have played Samford 30 times — most recently in 2023 — and have them booked again for 2026. They've played Alabama State twice (2018, 2021), Alabama A&M three times (most recently a 73-3 win in 2024), Jacksonville State (the 27-20 escape in 2015) and South Alabama (2025). Auburn even hosted UAB in the Blazers' very first game as an FBS program. They have Troy on the schedule for the first time in 2031 and North Alabama booked for 2028. Auburn engages with the state. Alabama doesn't.

The G6 programs in this state should not follow Alabama's example. They should follow Auburn's — and go further.

The history is there

These aren't manufactured rivalries. The roots are deep.

Troy and Jacksonville State have played 64 times since 1924. The Ol' School Bell — a trophy honoring both programs' origins as teachers' colleges — last belonged to Jacksonville State after a 21-10 win in 1990. Troy reclaimed it in 1995, won every remaining meeting through 2001 and held the bell for the entire 24-year hiatus after Troy moved to FBS. When the two teams finally met again at the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery last December, Jacksonville State won 17-13 and took back the bell for the first time in 35 years. That game was a reminder of what this rivalry means — and what 24 years without it cost both programs.

Troy and South Alabama play every year in the Sun Belt, and the Battle for the Belt has delivered. The wrestling belt trophy, created by both schools' SGAs in 2015, is one of the better rivalry concepts in the G6. Troy leads the series 10-4, but the games have been consistently competitive — multiple one-score finishes, a 34-33 classic in 2013 and South Alabama's 25-9 statement win in 2024.

UAB and Troy played 12 times from 1993 to 2014 — a series that produced four games decided by eight points or fewer, including an overtime thriller in 2013 and a 34-33 UAB win in 2010. The series ended when UAB's program was shut down. It hasn't been played since.

UAB and Jacksonville State have met six times. UAB leads 4-2.

UAB and South Alabama have played exactly twice — both UAB wins.

And Jacksonville State and South Alabama? They have never played each other. Not once. Two Alabama FBS programs, both now at the highest level of college football, with zero all-time meetings in the sport that funds the department.

The history is real. The fan bases care. The question is whether the people who build the schedules care enough to put these games on the calendar — and keep them there.

The schedule tells the story

I pulled the future non-conference schedules for all four G6 programs. The picture is better than it used to be — but it's not close to what it should be.

UAB is doing the most work. The Blazers have home-and-homes with Troy (2028-29, 2032-33), Jacksonville State (2027-28) and South Alabama (2030-31). They've also scheduled Samford for a crosstown series starting in 2026, plus games against Alabama State and Alabama A&M. That's a program investing in in-state football at every level — FBS and FCS.

Jacksonville State and South Alabama have their first-ever meeting on the calendar for Sept. 4, 2027. One game. In the entire history of two FBS programs that share a state. That's a start, not a strategy.

And then there's the glaring hole. Troy and Jacksonville State — 64 all-time meetings, one of the oldest rivalries in the state, a trophy game that just drew a crowd in Montgomery five months ago — have zero regular-season games scheduled against each other going forward. None. The bell is back, the history is as real as any rivalry in Alabama. Maybe those conversations are happening behind closed doors. But fans shouldn't have to guess. This game should be on a calendar somewhere, and it isn't — at least not yet.

But even the games that are on the books reveal a deeper problem. These are scattered one-offs and isolated home-and-homes spread across a decade. There's no coordinated rotation. No long-term commitment to keeping in-state matchups on the calendar year after year. UAB and Troy play in 2028-29, then not again until 2032-33. UAB and South Alabama don't meet until 2030. That's not a rivalry schedule. That's a scheduling accident that happens to be in-state.

And it gets worse when you look at the FCS lines. Every G6 program schedules at least one FCS game a year. It's a financial reality — those games fill dates and fund budgets. But look at who's getting those dates. Troy is scheduling Austin Peay. South Alabama is scheduling Southeastern Louisiana. Jacksonville State is looking out of state for its FCS matchups. Meanwhile, Alabama has four FCS programs — Samford, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, North Alabama — sitting right there. The payout is roughly the same. The difference is that Alabama State at Troy puts fans from the same state in the same stadium, generates local media coverage, keeps the economic activity in Alabama and reinforces the idea that football in this state matters at every level. Auburn gets it — Samford, Alabama A&M, Alabama State and North Alabama are all on the Tigers' schedule. UAB gets it. The other programs should too.

The four G6 athletic directors should be in a room together working out the rotations — FBS and FCS, long-term deals, not one-offs. Keep the money in state. Grow the pie.

This is bigger than scheduling

I can buy the case that these four schools belong in different conferences. UAB is an urban R1 research university in Birmingham — its academic peers and recruiting pools look more like Memphis, Tulane and USF than Troy or Jacksonville. Troy and South Alabama are Sun Belt programs. Jacksonville State is building in Conference USA. The conference affiliations make institutional sense.

And to be fair, I used to understand the "nothing to gain" view that some in these athletic departments have held over the years. There was a time when you could make the case that playing the school down the road didn't move the needle — that a guarantee game at an SEC school paid better and raised the profile more than a home-and-home with an in-state peer. I just don't think that position is prudent anymore. I'm not sure it's even affordable anymore. The landscape has changed too fundamentally. SEC teams are playing fewer guarantee games. The paydays that used to justify skipping the in-state matchup are drying up. Local rivalries have to fill that void — and they can, if the programs commit to them.

Conference affiliation is not an excuse to ignore geography. And scheduling is only the beginning of the conversation.

These four programs share a state, a recruiting base, overlapping media markets and a set of challenges that no Power 4 program will ever face. Revenue sharing. Playoff access. Media rights. NIL infrastructure. The G6's future as a competitive tier of college football. Every one of these fights is harder alone.

This is where the scarcity mentality does real damage. If these programs are already talking behind the scenes — and they may well be — the results need to show up on the schedule and in the public conversation. If they aren't, the window is open. Divide and conquer is a real strategy, and it works best when the people being divided don't realize it's happening.

The G6 doesn't need its programs arguing over scraps. It needs them working together for at least a view of the table — and eventually a place at it.

The Iron Bowl didn't grow because Alabama and Auburn wanted to help each other. It grew because competition, when you lean into it, grows the pie. Rivalry doesn't divide the audience. It multiplies it. Every Alabama fan who watches the Iron Bowl makes Auburn more valuable, and vice versa.

The same principle applies at the G6 level. Troy playing Jacksonville State doesn't take fans away from either program. It gives fans of both programs another game to care about — and it gives the media, the sponsors and the politicians a reason to pay attention to G6 football in Alabama.

What needs to happen

Give the rivalries names and trophies. The Battle for the Belt and the Ol' School Bell already work. UAB-Troy needs one. UAB-South Alabama needs one. Jacksonville State-South Alabama needs to exist as a series before it can earn one, but when it does, give the fans something to fight over. Trophies sell tickets, drive social content and give people something to care about beyond the final score.

Collaborate off the field. Joint lobbying on G6 issues — playoff access, revenue sharing, state funding, NIL infrastructure. Coordinated media strategies. Shared best practices. Four athletic directors in one state coordinating a lobbying position on playoff access carries more weight than one AD sending an email to the conference office. These programs face the same structural headwinds. Fighting them separately is inefficient. Fighting them together is leverage.

Make the economic case — and make it loudly. Nobody should need the state legislature to force G6 schools to play each other. That's not where we are. But the legislature should understand just how important these programs are for local economies — and that supporting their growth is good for the state. It's good for Birmingham when Jacksonville State brings that fan base and that outstanding marching band to Protective Stadium. It's good for Troy when UAB brings busloads down to the Wiregrass for a showcase game on national television. It'll be good for Jacksonville and Anniston when the Jaguars roll into town for the first time. These aren't just games. They're economic events — hotel rooms, restaurant tabs, gas stations and local businesses that benefit every time a visiting fan base shows up. We need more of it, not less.

Think like a state, not like four separate programs. Alabama's G6 football is as good as any state's in America. Four FBS programs. Four FCS programs. Conference titles. Bowl wins. A national championship. Startup stories. Comeback stories. That's a narrative worth building — together.

The resources aren't finite. The pie grows when you compete. It grows faster when you collaborate. Alabama's four G6 programs have too much in common and too much at stake to keep acting like strangers.

The time for provincialism is past. The schools that figure this out first will be the ones that survive what's coming.