Alabama Football: The ‘Whos’ and the ‘What’ in the 2017 ‘Second Season’
By Ronald Evans
Alabama football sits at 8-0 at the end of the first half of the 2017 season. Reaching most future goals will mean seven more games in the ‘Second Season.’
Although the season zips by for fans, 13, 14 or 15 games is a long grind for Alabama football players. Going through eight games without a bye week is tough. It would be tougher in the back side of a championship run if the bye week had come earlier.
The Alabama football schedule is now a six-week, five-game run to another SEC championship. Hopefully what will follow is a five-week, two-game path to another National Championship.
What stands in the way of championships?
There are two reasons the above question includes ‘what’ rather than ‘who.’ A ‘who’ question would be somewhat undefined because the last three opponents in a seven-game championship run are unknown.
There is another reason ‘what’ is more appropriate. In most (maybe even all) of the hypothetical seven games, ‘what’ rather than ‘who’ is the greater threat. ‘Who’ is a better team than the 2017 Crimson Tide? We don’t know but the final answer may be no one is better.
If Alabama football fields the best team in each of the future games, ‘what’ can cause the Tide to lose? The ‘what’ is Alabama football, failing to execute at its highest level. How would the ‘what’ play out? It could be the result of injuries, a freak disparity in turnovers in a certain game or just bad luck.
Who are the greatest championship obstacles?
Given the definition of ‘what’ above, any future team except Mercer could derail the Tide. Considering, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn and Georgia, none have a win over a championship-level team.
The best LSU win is over Auburn. Mississippi State’s best win is LSU. Georgia’s best win is Notre Dame. Auburn does not have one quality win. In fairness, the Alabama football win list is not stellar either.
None of the four SEC rivals have as complete a football team as Alabama. LSU is too run-dependent, which does not work for the Tigers against a Tide defense. Mississippi State’s talent level is not on par with Alabama. When Auburn cannot run, it cannot win. Georgia is tied for last in the SEC in sacks making it vulnerable to a balanced offense.
There is not a bad team among the four. With an assist from Alabama football, any of them could upset the Tide. They could, but most likely they will not.
That’s how the Alabama football ‘Second Season’ shapes up. The ‘whos’ do not threaten the Tide as much as ‘what’ might it take for Alabama football to beat itself.
Paul Finebaum described the ‘what’, not ‘who’ contrast well.
"“The problem for Alabama is they are judged against perfection. Everyone else is judged against Alabama.”"
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As is often true in the Saban-era, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn can define a season as a success by knocking off the Tide. As the CFB Playoff rankings evolve (starting October 31st) it could be a Tide loss in one of the games would not end the Tide’s championship drive.