Well, we will have to disagree. Cal, Michigan and UVA are ranked in high 20s by Newsweek. Alabama is 110. Not even close in comparison.
I think we are interpreting the comment differently. I don't believe, nor does Whitaker, IMO, that Alabama is on par with those 3 schools. What he's saying is that they are the benchmark with which to compare one's own performance. If you were in Whitaker's job, would you be shooting for.....mid 50's ranking or top 25? To be the best, you have to beat the best. I see nothing wrong with setting lofty goals and at the end of the day, applicant numbers are up, they've doubled tuition, and they are making a concerted effort at outreach to areas where test scores are highest and there's money.
I would love to be able to play guitar as well as SRV or Eric Clapton. I won't ever be that good but it's something to shoot for.
What do you expect the man to say? If it were your job, would you just say, "we suck and we'll always suck....so suck it"? Academically, USC was shit for years, including my time there. It never occurred to me that we would, or even should, compete on that level with kal or ucla. But this year we are tied with them and our tuition rates have about tripled. We are bringing in major money in tuition fees. That's the end game for these people at Bama and it seems to be working.
