Alabama Football: Talking SEC power shifts, real and imagined

For Alabama Football the goals never change. Neither does the work necessary to achieve those goals. In the weeks leading up to spring football practices, some college football ‘experts’ have said that Georgia and Texas A&M have bypassed the Crimson Tide. Those opinions are best described as ‘wishful thinking’ from a college football world that never tires of predictions of an Alabama Crimson Tide demise.

Deserved credit goes to Kirby and the Bulldogs for winning the National Championship. The achievement is noteworthy but there is no guarantee it means more championships will follow. The recent history of LSU football shows reaching the mountaintop does not mean a team can stay there.

The fact is, as Jordan Davis stated below, the Bulldogs won over an injury-depleted Alabama football team.

Luck has played a big part in many National Championship seasons and the Alabama Crimson Tide has had its share. Luck is part of the game and in the 2021 season, luck was on the side of a very good Georgia football team.

Plenty of big talk about the 2022 season and beyond comes from Athens and College Station as well. After one upset win over the Crimson Tide, there are claims the Aggies are the top program in the SEC West. Matt Hayes calls Texas A&M a monster.

"… last year’s win over SEC king Alabama can’t be an anomaly; it must be the beginning of a trend."

There is no argument that beating Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide was big for the Aggies. No offense to Matt Hayes, but one game does not define a program.

Though it is difficult to discern why; some big talk also comes out of Baton Rouge. Fervent Bengal Tigers fans appear to believe Brian Kelly is more than a good football coach. They ascribe to him wizard-like qualities that will allow him to not only rejuvenate a crippled LSU program but have it zoom past the Crimson Tide in the process. One assessment gushed about what Kelly can do with LSU talent.

"… it’s just phenomenal things that he’s done with lesser, quote-unquote, talent or ability to get the very best talent."

SEC Strength Good for Alabama Football

A strong LSU program is good for the SEC. The same can be said for the Tide with strong Georgia, Texas A&M and Florida programs. The conference benefits from every strong SEC team. Of course, all 14 teams cannot be SEC championship contenders at the same time. But Georgia battling Florida, Tennessee and maybe Kentucky is good for the SEC East. So too is LSU, Texas A&M and maybe Ole Miss or Arkansas pushing the Crimson Tide in the SEC West.

What Alabama football fans know, and the other SEC fanbases forget, is a Crimson Tide coming off a National Championship loss is the hardest to beat.