In baseball, this is called "spring training". Alabama gets 3 tomato cans who get paid enough to support for their sports programs for a year or 2 and a semi-respectable tune up (Duke).
And I thought that the NCAA ruled a year or two ago that 3 of those games (FCS teams, I assume) don't count towards the required wins for Alabama at the end of the year. Like they need easy wins to reach the minimum 6 games.