Charleston Southern. Georgia Southern. Georgia State. Western Carolina, twice. Chattanooga, three times.
This is the murderers’ row that Alabama’s football team has faced, at home, in the penultimate weekend of each regular season since 2009. All played at the time in the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision. On Saturday, the No. 1 Crimson Tide (10-0) will face Mercer — another F.C.S. team, which therefore stands about as much chance of winning in Tuscaloosa as Bear Bryant does of coming back to life and reassuming his coaching duties.
In addition to serving a purpose for each side — so-called guarantee games typically involve a payment to the visiting team and a lucrative seventh home game for the host — for Alabama, the timing of this game often makes it function as a light workout near the end of a grueling regular season.