That's not true. In '04 it was the case, but it wasn't in every year since '02 according to Rivals.

The classes have been close, yes.

yeah, I usually use Scout rather than Rivals, but Rivals.com shows recruiting classes for 2004, 2005, and 2006 as follows:

Auburn was ranked 21st, 13th, and 10th
Bama was ranked 15th, 18th, and 11th

looks like Notre Dame could have the #1 class for this coming season ..... they are LOADED with commits and they had a superb class last season.

Nebraska, IMO, will continue to suffer in recruiting as it has become comparitively more competitive for them than most schools recently

Saban's recruiting will improve with time. He has a lot of playing time to offer blue chip recruits right now, so depth should improve by next season.

Beau, if you use Scout you would see that going back to '02 Auburn has ranked higher than Alabama 4 out of the last 6 years. I only made the post because you said Alabama has *consistantly* been rated higher than Auburn and that isn't the case.

Saban and his recruiting can continue the same course it is now as far as I'm concerned. If it improves, great!

I haven't followed Nebraska/Callahan closely, so I can't comment on him.

As for Weiss, he may be great at coming up with strategies & analyzing film, but to this point he doesn't know how to run a college program. His recruiting has been very, very good but he hasn't focused enough on the lines and isn't developing his players. Thus, once the players that were already developed left, Weiss was left with what he had built himself - not much.

Saban, on the other hand, knows how to run a program & that practices have to be run in a way to develop players. Therefor, his program will only continue to get better with great recruiting. Bama's recruiting has never been bad, but it hasn't been great the past few years.

I expect Bama to be competitive year in & year out, although I do not think Saban will ever win a NC with them.

Why not? If we were to switch places with LSU do you not think we could at least win the SEC with only one loss? And would you agree that a one loss SEC team is probably better than someone who plays Ohio State's schedule?

It isn't just one loss, it is one loss to a ranked team on the road in the 3rd OT (which is different than a home loss to an unranked team, see: UF in '03).

But that's beside the point. The reason I do not believe that Saban will win the NC again is because getting to the NC game requires a lot of luck, and I don't see the stars lining up for him again - mainly because the SEC is the toughest it's ever been.

That's not to say that he can't win the NC or won't come close. I just don't expect it.

First of all, I'm not your "beau" nor did i specify "back to 2002" so cut the bush league implications. Nor did I degrade Saban, instead I attempted to compliment him.

Let's assume he goes through a season and has a one loss record. Wins the SEC. Does that team deserve a shot if that season looks like this one does?

No one can say he will bring another NC to Alabama. But, on the other hand, no one can say he doesn't have the resources to do so. I have to look at the coaches who have had 10+ win seasons at Alabama with the knowledge they weren't on the same plane as Saban when it comes to ability. That bodes well for the future.

All that being said...you are right. It requires a lot of luck. In '92 we had a lot of close games just like LSU is experiencing right now. But, in the end, the defense stood up and the team won.

Generally, if there aren't 2 undefeated BCS teams I think a 1 loss SEC team deserves it over a 1 loss team from any other conference.