Alabama played Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny on Saturday, October 24, and the next home football game isn't until Chattanooga on November 21. In between, the team is on the road, at LSU in Baton Rouge on November 7 and at Vanderbilt on November 14. Those four weeks have no home football at all. The women opened Coleman Coliseum, at 1201 Coliseum Drive, against Mississippi College on October 27, and the building has nine more home games before football returns. Five of them fall on consecutive nights, Monday, November 2 through Friday, November 6.
If you live in Pinehurst, Riverside or near the Strip, the action shifts in time as well as place. Football fills a Saturday from morning to night. Basketball season opens on weeknights, mostly at 6 p.m., at prices closer to a movie ticket than a football ticket.
The calendar between the two football weekends
This is every home game on campus from the Texas A&M weekend through Thanksgiving week, as listed on the Alabama Athletics schedules.
| Date | Event | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Oct 24 | Football vs Texas A&M | Bryant-Denny | Played |
| Tue, Oct 27 | Women vs Mississippi College | Coleman | Played |
| Mon, Nov 2 | Women vs Queens | Coleman | 6 p.m. |
| Tue, Nov 3 | Men vs Sam Houston | Coleman | TBD |
| Wed, Nov 4 | Women vs New Orleans | Coleman | 6 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov 5 | Women vs Alabama A&M | Coleman | 6 p.m. |
| Fri, Nov 6 | Men vs Arkansas State | Coleman | TBD |
| Sat, Nov 7 | Football at LSU | Baton Rouge | Away |
| Mon, Nov 9 | Men vs Oakland | Coleman | TBD |
| Fri, Nov 13 | Men vs Seton Hall | Coleman | TBD |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Football at Vanderbilt | Nashville | Away |
| Sun, Nov 15 | Women vs Mercer | Coleman | 2 p.m. |
| Tue, Nov 17 | Men vs Kennesaw State | Coleman | TBD |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Football vs Chattanooga | Bryant-Denny | |
| Tue, Nov 24 | Women vs ULM | Coleman | 6 p.m. |
| Wed, Nov 25 | Women vs Samford | Coleman | 6 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Football vs Auburn | Bryant-Denny |
The men's schedule still shows tip times as TBD for every November home date, so check back before you plan dinner around a men's game. The women's schedule is set. Every weeknight home game is at 6 p.m., and the one weekend game, Mercer on Sunday, November 15, tips at 2 p.m.
Only one of the nine games still to come before Chattanooga falls on a weekend. The Saturdays of November 7 and 14, with the football team on the road, have no home games at all.
Five nights, two programs, one building
The first week of November is the opening of both programs, each with a different story.
The women start a new era. Alabama Athletics announced on April 1, 2026 that Pauline Love had been named head coach. She comes back to Tuscaloosa after one season as associate head coach at Oklahoma, where the Sooners won 26 games in 2025-26 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. She had already spent the 2024-25 season in Tuscaloosa as an Alabama assistant and recruiting coordinator. In the athletics department's announcement, Love said she was excited to "connect with this community and build something special in Tuscaloosa." Queens on November 2 opens her November run at Coleman, and she coaches three of the five nights that week.
The men take the Tuesday and the Friday. Nate Oats added seven players for 2026-27, according to Alabama Athletics. The freshmen are Tarris Bouie, Jaxon Richardson and Qayden Samuels, and the transfers are Cole Cloer, Jamarion Davis-Fleming, Drew Fielder and Brandon Garrison. Richardson was a 2026 McDonald's All-American and won the McDonald's Slam Dunk contest. The early home games against Sam Houston and Arkansas State are the first chance to see that roster in Tuscaloosa.
Most of the change in the building itself is behind the scenes. UA's construction office lists the Coleman Coliseum basketball training facility expansion and renovation as complete, with construction finished June 1, 2026. The project added a new men's practice facility and weight room and moved the women into the former men's practice facility and weight room. It also added player-development, locker room, lounge, film and sports medicine spaces. Fans won't see most of it, but this is the first season both teams play with it in place.
What a weeknight at Coleman costs, and how the door works
Football Saturdays take a full day of planning. A women's game in early November takes far less, partly because of the price. The women's ticket page lists non-conference general admission at $8, or $5 each for groups of 15 or more. SEC games later in the season run $10 for a regular game and $20 for a premium game. All six of the women's November home games are against non-conference opponents.
The rest of the routine, in the order you'll need it:
- Buy ahead or at the window. Single-game tickets for both programs went on sale Monday, October 26. The men's ticket page says single-game seats are not guaranteed and does not list a single-game price.
- Bring a card, not cash. For women's games, ticket sales open one hour before tipoff at the windows in Coleman's main lobby, and all game-day sales are general admission. The ticket office takes credit and debit cards only. The building is cashless.
- Get a ticket for everyone. Every attendee needs a ticket, regardless of age.
- Pack to the bag rule. The clear bag policy allows one clear bag up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches or a one-gallon clear bag, plus a clutch up to 4.5 by 6.5 inches.
- Time your arrival. Gates for women's games open 60 minutes before tipoff, so 5 p.m. on the November weeknights. For men's games, the ticket windows and student entrance open 90 minutes before tipoff.
UA students with a valid ACT card get in free to all regular-season home games and use the west entrance, with student seating in sections FL-J, FL-K and FL-W.
Parking is the one piece not yet posted
The most recent basketball parking guidance on UA Gameday is from the 2025-26 season. Last season, it pointed public parking to the Soccer Lot at Fourth Street, and the Capstone Deck was limited to Tide Pride pass holders. Lots opened two hours before tipoff, and free shuttles ran from 90 minutes before tipoff until 30 minutes after the game. The Coleman Coliseum Lot, Priority Lot and Second Avenue Lot were for permit holders.
Treat that as last season's plan until the page is updated for 2026-27. One reason it could change: UA's September 2026 football gameday notice said the Soccer Lot Grass area was unavailable and pointed fans to Grass Lot 1 or Grass Lot 2. The same notice said University Boulevard in Alberta was down to one lane in each direction for construction. Both notes were written for football Saturdays. If you're coming from the east side of town for a 6 p.m. tip, give yourself extra time on University Boulevard and check UA Gameday the day of the game.
Fitting a 6 p.m. tip into a weekday
A 6 p.m. tipoff on a Wednesday leaves a short window after work, and a few campus and Strip stops fit into it.
The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art in 103 Garland Hall is showing The Answers to Your Questions, a free exhibition of drawings and paintings by Laylah Ali, through December 11. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while school is in session. That closing time fits a game night. You can see the show at 4, then walk across campus and still get to Coleman before the 5 p.m. gates on November 2, 4 or 5.
The Paul R. Jones Museum's calendar lists Part II of Jerry Siegel's Uncommon Lens opening October 30 and running through December 11. That makes it brand new for the first basketball week. Check the museum's live listing before you go.
For dinner before or after, the Strip has changed since last basketball season. Tuscaloosa Thread reported that Sandlot, the downtown sports bar, is taking over the former SoCal Cantina space at 2310 University Boulevard. Its posted hours run 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday. Those hours cover a post-game meal after any of the five nights. Cajian, a counter-service Cajun and Creole restaurant, opened at 2008 University Boulevard in the former Clean Eatz space. Tuscaloosa Thread also reported that the university board authorized a lease for CAVA at 1130 University Boulevard, the former Strip Whataburger, though that report gave no opening date.
After the first week, the calendar thins out
After November 6, Coleman's schedule settles into a slower rhythm before football comes back. The men host Oakland on Monday, November 9, Seton Hall on Friday, November 13, and Kennesaw State on Tuesday, November 17. Mercer comes in for the 2 p.m. Sunday women's game on November 15. Seton Hall is the best-known opponent of the stretch, and like every men's home date it still has no posted tip time.
Football returns to Bryant-Denny with Chattanooga on November 21 and Auburn on November 28. The women play ULM on Tuesday, November 24, and Samford on Wednesday, November 25, both at 6 p.m. That puts two $8 games in the middle of Thanksgiving week, a few days before the Iron Bowl, for anyone looking for an outing with visiting family.
If a basketball night has you looking at the streets around Coleman and thinking about living within walking distance, Traci Taft knows the campus-edge blocks and how game nights affect them, from football Saturdays to weeknight tipoffs. Schedule a Free Consultation and she'll walk you through the streets that put the arena and the Strip within easy reach.
