Alabama SEC Roster Limits for Football

There are many, many rules in the game of college football. Some of those rules are for the game on the field, and some of the rules are for off the field. The Southeastern Conference (SEC), and member-school Alabama, adhere to the rules set forth by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In the case of rosters, the NCAA has a few rules that place limits on certain aspects of the roster.

  1. Total Player Limit

    • During the 2009/10 season, Alabama had well over 100 players on its roster. According to the NCAA Rule Book, there is no official limit on total roster size. There is a limit on the number of scholarship players on a roster, but a team may have as many total players as they wish. Aside from scholarship players, teams have walk-on players. Walk-on players are simply players who are not on scholarship, and, at top tier programs like Alabama, usually fill the role of bench riders, practice squad and scout team players.

    Scholarship Player Limit

    • In the 2009/10 season, Alabama had 85 scholarship players on its roster. This is the maximum number of scholarship players allowed by the NCAA. Powerhouse programs like Alabama will always keep the maximum number of scholarship players on their roster, for numerous reasons. For one, keeping 85 scholarship players ensures that a team has a plethora of top-flight players. This also helps a team build depth, so that if a player is injured or under-performs, he can be easily replaced without a significant drop off in talent.

    Recruit Signing Limit

    • Each year, the NCAA allows schools to enroll 25 new players via scholarships. However, many teams will sign more than 25 players. They do this in case a player doesn't qualify academically, and to let players develop in junior colleges and prep schools until they join the team a year or two later. The NCAA does not, however, limit the number of players a team can sign--they leave that decision up to the individual athletic conferences. In 2009, the SEC placed a limit on the number of players a team could sign to 28. In 2010, Alabama signed 26 players. They signed 28 in 2009 and 32 in 2008. Because Alabama is a strong program--with better resources than many schools--they will almost always sign at least 25 players. However, earlier in the decade they were on NCAA probation, and lost scholarships due to violations committed against NCAA regulations. Due to these penalties, Alabama only signed 19 players in both 2002 and 2003.