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BamaDude
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Sure, I know the sportswriters & broadcasters tend to vote for the same 5 or 6 teams ad nauseum, but have they checked the facts?
Alabama may have been head & shoulders over every other college football team last year; but this season they are only maybe a half a head higher than the rest. And that's close enough to get knocked off at some point during the season - maybe even this coming Saturday.
Alabama is losing a QB that through for 4500 yards & 41 TDs a year ago, and a running back that over, around & through people for 26 more TDs on the ground. And even though Mac Jones became a season-long starter for the first time in 2020, he had been in the system for several years and knew his way around. Bryce Young is a first-year starter with only one year of mop-up duty, 156 yards & 1 passing TD to his credit. And even though he threw for 333 yards in the Spring Game, the first team offense that he was leading only managed to score one touchdown. He also lost a fumble that was recovered for a TD. Not a stellar performance!
Some of the backs & receivers were held out of the spring game, and others saw only limited action, but the running backs for both teams only accounted for 83 yards on 42 attempts, & each side had a trio of sacks. There still seems to be some problems on the offensive line jelling, and the QB's & receivers being on the same page; but the good news is that the defense looks like it may be killer.
Alabama has had 4 different QBs win the National Championship as a first-year starter under Nick Saban, and a first-year non-starter to come off the bench in the championship game to win another one, but all of those first-year starters had some decent time in the system as back-ups. A.J. McCarron is the only one to win an encore championship the next season. That's the only time a team has won back-to-back titles during Saban's stint at Alabama. After the title in 2009, Bama went 10-3 the next year. They followed up their 2011 title with another in 2012, but went 11-2 in 2013.
Bama followed up its 2015 championship with a runner-up finish in 2016, and did the same following their 2017 title, then missed the playoffs in 2019. No team has repeated as National Champions during the College Football Playoff era, but Alabama did make the finals for 4 consecutive years. The Crimson Tide definitely deserves to be a Top 5 team, but I just don't see the wisdom in picking them as a preseason #1.
Alabama may have been head & shoulders over every other college football team last year; but this season they are only maybe a half a head higher than the rest. And that's close enough to get knocked off at some point during the season - maybe even this coming Saturday.
Alabama is losing a QB that through for 4500 yards & 41 TDs a year ago, and a running back that over, around & through people for 26 more TDs on the ground. And even though Mac Jones became a season-long starter for the first time in 2020, he had been in the system for several years and knew his way around. Bryce Young is a first-year starter with only one year of mop-up duty, 156 yards & 1 passing TD to his credit. And even though he threw for 333 yards in the Spring Game, the first team offense that he was leading only managed to score one touchdown. He also lost a fumble that was recovered for a TD. Not a stellar performance!
Some of the backs & receivers were held out of the spring game, and others saw only limited action, but the running backs for both teams only accounted for 83 yards on 42 attempts, & each side had a trio of sacks. There still seems to be some problems on the offensive line jelling, and the QB's & receivers being on the same page; but the good news is that the defense looks like it may be killer.
Alabama has had 4 different QBs win the National Championship as a first-year starter under Nick Saban, and a first-year non-starter to come off the bench in the championship game to win another one, but all of those first-year starters had some decent time in the system as back-ups. A.J. McCarron is the only one to win an encore championship the next season. That's the only time a team has won back-to-back titles during Saban's stint at Alabama. After the title in 2009, Bama went 10-3 the next year. They followed up their 2011 title with another in 2012, but went 11-2 in 2013.
Bama followed up its 2015 championship with a runner-up finish in 2016, and did the same following their 2017 title, then missed the playoffs in 2019. No team has repeated as National Champions during the College Football Playoff era, but Alabama did make the finals for 4 consecutive years. The Crimson Tide definitely deserves to be a Top 5 team, but I just don't see the wisdom in picking them as a preseason #1.
