For the Alabama football team, 'week-to-week' has dual meanings. The standard one comes from how Kalen DeBoer describes the injury situations for multiple Crimson Tide players. DeBoer has defined the recoveries of Racin Delgatty, Ryan Coleman-Williams, and Terrance Green as week-to-week. Crimson Tide insiders are concerned that Zabien Brown and EJ Crowell are not much healthier.
No football roster is healthy by Week 8. Alabama slogging through seven weeks of games with no bye doesn't help. Alabama must adjust, with injuries not used as an excuse.
Alabama's Playoff potential is 'week-to-week' as well. Most Week 8 predictions have the Crimson Tide out of the 12-team field. That probably will not change with a win over struggling Texas A&M. For the Crimson Tide, Saturday, Nov. 7, in Baton Rouge, will be close to make-or-break. Subsequent wins over Vanderbilt and Auburn would still be needed.
Alabama good news in Week 8
The four computer model predictions I track each week have the Crimson Tide beating the Aggies by double-digit points. The closest Alabama winning margin comes from Bill Connelly's SP+, at Alabama 32 - Texas A&M 21. Kenneth Massey's model prediction is the Crimson Tide winning 34 - 21. Brian Fremeau's FEI predicts an Alabama win of 32-17 (rounded off). Jeff Sagarin's model is the most bullish for the Crimson Tide, with a predicted 33-16 win (also rounded off).
ESPN's FPI model gives the Crimson Tide an 83.5% probability of winning. Before the Tennessee game, the probability was around 88%.
Alabama players can't look ahead, but the rest of us can. ESPN currently assigns LSU a 52.1% probability of beating Alabama. That indicates the difference between the teams will be the Tiger Stadium crowd. A more optimistic perspective comes from the FPI, Sagarin, Massey, and Fremeau, all of whom rank the Crimson Tide higher than the Bengal Tigers. Connelly's SP+ is the exception. The SP+ ranks the Crimson Tide No. 12 and the Bengal Tigers at No. 6.
Perhaps Alabama's history of success in Baton Rouge could neutralize some of LSU's crowd advantage. But that supposition is dubious. My work-in-progress prediction is that the Alabama team that played in Knoxville will not win in Baton Rouge. The Alabama coaching staff must make the Crimson Tide a better team.
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