Part of being a good team is taking advantage of your situation and Bama did exactly that this year. They caught Clemson, LSU, Georgia, and Auburn in down years and took it to them. They aren't very deep in experienced talent, but they escaped serious injuries to key players. LSU started without its MVP quarterback and then saw it's #2 and #3 QB's go down with injuries. If JP Wilson had gone down, Bama would have been in trouble fast. Nick did what he needed to do, which was get his team in the SECCG. A National Championship shot would have been nice, but a 12-win season is BIG to Bama after the decade they've had. Florida was just a better team, we all knew it around here, but what Bama accomplished this season was remarkable and Nick will get consideration for coach of the year. The Bama homers are dejected, expeting a crystal football and having predicted that LSU and Auburn would now "return to mediocrity" and Bama was destined to "return to greatness". But the many pragmatic Bamafans are quite proud with their season and expect that it means that Bama is competitive again, a year or two earlier than expected. The West Division is going to be wide open next season.
Utah has not had to deal with a defense that is as strong as what Alabama brings. The strongest Defences that Utah has faced were Michigan and TCU. Utah beat Michigan by 2 points (25-23) and TCU by 3 points (13-10). Bama has to run, and run some more, and physically wear Utah down. My predicition: Bama 27 Utah 17
All championships count. The division championship puts a team into the conference championship. Having a division championship is better than having none. So Bama has one championship for 2008. It may not be a major championship, but it is a championship and it signifies Bama's fortunes are back on the rise. The fight for the western division championship should be pretty interesting for the foreseeable future. Congrats Bama on a great season.
I totally agree. Bama had a decent team this year, but more importantly everyone else was down. Next year will be wide open in the west!:geauxtige
Sorry ... but I just can't jump on the bandwagon of degrading Bama's season or accomplishments this year. Regardless of your opinions of the team, the coach or anything else it was a very successful season. When you compare it to last season it is even more noteworthy. I think they had a heck of a run this year and took advantage of every situation they could to get to the SEC Championship. That's exactly what you are supposed to do. So you can talk about who had down years and what teams were in turmoil but the bottom line is that a win is a win and you should take advantage of those situations. This aint soft shoe, it's football. I just can't stand it when people try to discount other teams because they won when they didn't want them to win. Living here in Birmingham I can tell you that there is a small contingent that believe that Nick Saban = National Championship. Why wouldn't they? Look how close they got in the second season. There is a larger contingent, however, that is not focused strictly on Championships but want what Nick has already delivered in the form of toughness and a competitive team. What they were looking for is respect and something to build upon. They have had many rough seasons here lately and want to return to a team that can line up and play ball. The Crimson Tide has a lot of history and tradition and is one of those schools that represents college football. I think it is good for College Football and the SEC to have them return to a level of play that is representative of their history. We need that. It brings strength to the conference, it helps the SEC maintain it's position as one of the toughest places to play and it adds significant value to every win that you can get. We don't need a cupcake league. If we did, we would move to the Big Ten or the Pac Ten. This is the SEC. This is where the big boys play. So, in contrast to that small group that wants to discount UA's accomplishments this year, I stand on the other side of the aisle. Congratulations on a great year! It's good to have you back. We're looking forward to lining up against you next year and getting a little revenge. :geauxtige
whatever dude. a west championship is a second place trophy. all this obsequious chat on bama annoys me. "congrats on a great season". eff that. that's our main competition in the foreseeable future man. i hate those guys. i wish them nothing but ill will and plagues. that's what makes it fun. the plaque for the alternates is down in the ladies room, bama. we're holding a seat for you.
bama sympathizer or worse - closet bama fan. i guess living in berlin in '38 might have turned even FDR into a Nazi. personally i enjoy rooting against our competition. novel concept apparently.
I'm giving them their due credit, and congratulations, however its a down year in the SEC and next year will be wide open. Try not to get bent outta shape, those is facts.:thumb::geauxtige
Buck Fama. Of course they had a great season. That's indisputable. How they close out the season will determine how this season is remembered. Saban is a 1st class, grade-A prick who is also a great coach. Theres nothing about him that makes someone wish him success though. Bama fans are also very unlikable. It's their sense of entitlement. All this "I'm glad for Bama" chit is ridiculous. Bama success is not good for LSU. We compete for recruits. We compete for the West. If you're glad for Bama then you do so at LSU's expense. Bama built their tradition with cheating and unethical behavior. Bama losing the SEC championship and ultimately a shot at the NC was extremely satisfying.
