Buzz Break: 2023 Bowman University Alabama Football cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2023 Bowman University Alabama Football cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
First Buzz preview with checklist/odds: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 48 (Relic packs are shorted cards)
Base set completion: 
37 of 100 (37 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Nick Saban, Ty Simpson, Dallas Turner, Jihaad Campbell, Eli Holstein, Malik Benson, Caleb Downs, Jase McClellan, Jaeden Roberts, Jah-Marien Latham, Shawn Murphy, Kendrick Blackshire, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Hale, Ryqueze McElderry, Kadyn Proctor, Roydell Williams, Justin Eboigbe, Chris Braswell, Qua Russaw, Desmond Ricks, Earl Little II, Tony Mitchell, Will Reichard, Kneeland Hibbett, Jermaine Burton, Tyler Buchner, Will Reichard, Kool-Aid Mcinstry, Dallas Turner, Jase McClellan, Emmanuel Henderson Jr., Ja'Corey Brooks, Shazz Preston, Jah-Marien Latham, J.C. Latham, Caleb Downs, Jihaad Campbell, Ja'Corey Brooks, Shazz Preston, Richard Young, Jase McClellan, Jaheim Oatis, Tim Keenan III, Jamil Burroughs, Jah-Marien Latham

Rookie Cards – N/A (prospect cards are not RCs by any traditional definition)

Insert/short-print cards: 10 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Roll Tide (5) – Ja'Corey Brooks, Jase McClellan, Shazz Preston, Jihaad Campbell, Jermaine Burton
Crimson Catalysts (2) – Ja'Corey Brooks, Eli Holstein
Rainbow foil parallel (1) – C.J. Dippre & Robbi Ouzts
Red foil parallel (1) – Isiah Bond & Kendrick Law (/5)
FoilFractor (1) – Thaiu Jones-Bell (1/1)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Relic Cards (1) – Deontae Lawson

What's Buzz-worthy: I was skeptical of this one in some ways when it was first revealed just weeks ago -- an entire product of active, current college players -- but it's my team and it's got a deep checklist and it's bargain-priced ... so I had to try it. (Spoiler: I'll do more.) What I got was a good taste of what's possible in some ways with some longer-odds pulls -- a thrill of victory -- as well as a little agony of defeat as the two best cards here had pretty substantive corner or surface issues that, well, put a damper on it being a monster box. The rest of the box? About what it is going to be most of the time -- a chunk of the 100 basic cards with a couple of subsets to add some extra looks at stars and moments -- and then one hit per box (mostly Relics with ink possible) along with inserts and parallels. ... The design is clean and simple -- the backs are jam-packed with info and generally speaking the images are strong as they're coming straight from the source and not via what can be found from hired photographers (sometimes a struggle with college cards). The Red here is one in 655 packs (66 boxes) and the Foilfractor is just one of 100 in the set at one in 3,231 packs (324 boxes). Just one of those would easily make this an A+ box except the Red arrived with two bad corners and the 1/1 arrived with a surface gauge and one iffy-ish corner. (These might be from those cards being flipped when fed into packs ... or pressures from packing equipment with the problem being the stock is as skinny as it gets. That needs an upgrade for sure.) This was by far the best of three boxes I ripped -- all Relic boxes by the way -- and you'll see the rest here in the coming weeks. The skeptical part of me is what could have been -- this release would have been unquestionably epic had it arrived last year as that roster had 10 NFL picks and the No. 1 overall pick in Bryce Young, while this year's team has a three-headed monster potentially at quarterback this year ... no well-defined No. 1 just yet. Meanwhile, at the same time, this makes it a set where some prospecting could be done over time. While it could be a down year for the team's name talent on cardboard positions, I think the price here makes this an interesting one and that's a big key -- a big, big, big key. You have an auto or mem card to be found in every box but autos are only eight per 20-box case (not the best odds) but this is just a start for NIL releases that are school-specific from Topps -- and if it does well there should be more. After all, these are also being sold on campus ... so people who might not normally do cards just might with this one. (Again, pricing is key ... not only for newbs but keeping veteran collectors in the game, too). This also could mean some rare auto parallels get tucked away in collections to never be seen at all in the typical hobby realm -- making some perhaps more-typical finds for those hunting harder to find than one might think and perhaps helping prices. Atop that, who might be the next Bryce Young? We'll see in time whether they are in here. This box was way above the norm ... but I think there's a lot to potentially find here for an affordable price.

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: B+ (damaged parallels really put a damper on what should have been an A+ box)
Fun Grade: B (see above)

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