There is no new King in college football. Alabama Football was the King last season, as it has been so many times in the Nick Saban era. The current Tide has not earned any status yet, beyond winning three games. They are some bonus points for the Florida win, given the uber intensity of the Gators’ crowd. But being ranked No. 1 at this point has little meaning.
What the Alabama Crimson Tide has not done is look dominant for 60 minutes in any game this season. So far, that shortage of dominance is not a major concern for the Tide. It is a boost though, for the rest of college football. Weariness from Alabama Football dominance has triggered so many bizarre reactions. Two examples are the erroneous contentions that Power Five conference champions always deserve a CFB Playoff slot. Another is a team like Coastal Carolina can compete for a National Championship.
The 2021 season may be different. It is of course different from the unique 2020 season. It might also be fundamentally different from the 2019 and earlier seasons. The reason is – three weeks in – there is not a single ‘elite’ team and that includes the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Ivan Maisel made a similar contention a few days ago. Speaking about the fallacy of preseason notions and whether this will be another season with the same four or maybe five elite teams – Maisel provided the best early-season lines, talking about Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
"We have enough of a sample to know that Clemson can’t make a first down and whoever plays Ohio State can. Oklahoma has struggled to put away Tulane and Nebraska."
No matter what is being claimed Georgia, Oregon, Penn State and the Michigans (the Wolverines and the Spartans) are no more elite than, as of now, is the Alabama Crimson Tide. The 2021 season has been so topsy-turvy, crazy claims are being made -like Ole Miss and Arkansas being SEC powerhouses.
In this unsettled season, the cream will again rise. Even if there are no undefeated teams at the end, there will be at least three and maybe four credible one-loss Playoff worthy teams. The best two will again play for the title. Whining about Playoff ‘fairness’ will continue, even if the 2021 postseason shows only one or two teams were legitimate National Championship contenders.
Alabama Football fans favor a dominant Crimson Tide
Alabama football fans don’t care for hearing the Crimson Tide is yet to become elite. There are a couple of reasons why that’s not a bad thing at this point. The Crimson Tide is a very young team and barring serious injuries to key players, the Tide in November and December will be much better. The other reason is the rest of college football can revel in what they predict will be the demise of the Tide. The hope it does not take a giant killer to take down the Tide overrides all the normal complaints about Crimson Tide dominance making college football boring.
More to follow next week, but based on developments this week, don’t count on a 12-team College Football Playoff soon – or maybe ever.