Alabama Football: Crimson Tide is the ‘odds’ favorite but will not be the national, ‘fan favorite’ in the National Championship game.
Get ready Alabama football fans. On Jan. 11, it will be the Crimson Tide against the college football world. Some SEC fans may pull for the Crimson Tide and there is enough Buckeye hate in Michigan, more Wolverines will probably prefer a Tide win.
Otherwise, an overwhelming number of college football fans will be rooting against the Crimson Nation. The hate of the Alabama Crimson Tide is deep and unfettered by rationality. Nick Saban is hated as some kind of evil demon. The program is hated because of its vault of National Championships. The Tide’s traditional uniforms are even hated by those who reject understated elegance.
In fairness to other college football fans, hating the Crimson Tide is understandable. The dominance of SEC football over every other Power Five conference is one reason. Going back to the 2006 National Championship, of the 14 Champions of college football, the SEC has provided 10. Nationally, the Nick Saban Era will never be forgiven for winning five of the ten. The resulting frustration drives frequent nonsense about programs like UCF, Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati being deserving College Football Playoff participants.
There is no imminent plan to expand the Playoffs. A bad expansion idea is coveted by most college football fans. Look at the history of the Playoff lower seeds and it will be seen there are rarely more than three schools with a solid chance to win the Championship. Just as the 2012 BCS National Championship game ushered in the current CFB Playoff, such a tipping point will be reached again. In 2012, the college football world could not cope with two SEC teams playing for a national title. When the Crimson Tide takes down Ohio State, the clamor for an expanded Playoff will gain more fervor.
Check out the attitude from an Ohio State Forum.
"if Ohio State can pull off the upset, it really can change the overall picture of the college football landscape.it could mean, in essence: the argument about the SEC’s supposed superiority would be down the drain."
For Alabama football players, being the ‘bad guys’ might carry some motivational value. Except no one wearing crimson will need any motivational boosts. Every one of them came to Tuscaloosa to win a National Championship. That is all the motivation needed.
An odds-favored Alabama Crimson Tide will focus on the business at hand. An Ohio State team that might replicate its performance against Clemson is a formidable foe. Nick Saban and the Alabama football team will focus on nothing but that. Everything else is just noise.
The ‘SEC football is down’ claim took a hit in the latest bowl games. Three unranked SEC schools, with losing records, beat Indiana, North Carolina State and Tulsa, all of whom were ranked.