1. Alabama
Dec 6, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban helps his players lift the SEC Championship trophy after defeating Missouri in the 2014 SEC Championship at the Georgia Dome. Alabama beat Missouri 42-13. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
This isn’t a guarantee that the Tide will be world beaters this year; I have a lot of questions about the 2015 Crimson Tide squad. That’s nothing new though.
I doubted the Tide in 2009 and they won it all, I was worried about the Tide in 2011 and 2012, I shouldn’t have been. I was fretting of the Tide quarterback battle last year, and Blake Sims did a great job leading Alabama to yet another SEC Championship.
It’s hard to bet against a team with Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake at running back. It will be hard to replace Amari Cooper, you really just can’t replace a guy like that, but ArDarius Stewart, Chris Black, and Robert Foster are really solid players. Whether Blake Barnett, Jake Coker, Cooper Bateman, or David Cornwall gets the nod at QB, they will have weapons.
The Tide defense hasn’t quite been what it was the past couple of years and I think that’s going to correct a bit this year. The Tide’s young secondary is a year older and has some more experience under their belt.
It’s not that I think that this Tide team is a dominating force, it’s just that I don’t see any SEC West team right now that I could straight pick to beat them on a given day. You have to give Nick Saban and Alabama the benefit of the doubt until someone proves they are ready to take the mantel.
It’s seasons like this when the whole team is going to have to pull together, no one star to lean on, that Alabama shines. Alabama always performs better when the expectations are a bit lower.
I don’t know yet if this Crimson Tide team has what it takes to win it all, but I won’t count them out yet. If you sleep on Alabama and Nick Saban then you get what you deserve.
Alabama is (shockingly) our pick to win the SEC West 2015.
Alabama gets it’s first big game right out of the gate against Wisconsin on September 5th.