Preseason Top 10 Countdown

Preseason Top 10 Countdown

 Closing in on my top team, we come to #3 Alabama.

  Many of you, right away, are asking "what? you have Alabama at #3? What's wrong with you?" Allow me to plead my case and then we can see if you still have those same questions.

  Nick Saban has been here before. Winning the BCS title game in 2009, Saban knows it is very easy to get caught up in the hype of winning back to back titles. Even when they had almost the entire team back in 2010, they struggled and they couldn't do it. Now we are talking about a defense that the NFL cleaned out, and an offense that loses weapons like Trent Richardson and Marquis Maze. You have to question if this team will be as dominant.

 The Crimson Tide don't have the established leaders that they had a year ago. There is plenty of raw talent, but the question still remains, "will it develope each and every week and get them back to the National Championship?"

  This was the #1 scoring defense in the nation. They were crazy good. It was so good that there was hardly ever any pressure on the offense. It was like watching a chess game develope. Get your pawns in place, put your special pieces in place, and then watch as your opponent makes all the mistakes for you. Nick Saban may not look like it, sometimes, but he is actually one of the more composed coaches on the sidelines. He loves to game plan. Just look at this past championship game against LSU. Not to take anything away from Alabama, but that was an incredibly uneventful game to watch. Saban had LSU begging to let them just once cross the 50 yard line. Anybody see that coming?

  Enough about the Crimson Tide of 2011, this is 2012. And like Nick Saban said a couple years ago after a frustrating game, "This team hasn't proven.......insert explitive." So if there is something for Alabama to use as motivation, it has to be,"Don't be that team from 2010." On Paper, that was Nick Saban's best chance at a repeat. I'm not saying he can't this year, but the odds are against him. He has a good track record for first year starting QBs winning a championship but this year he has McCarron back. Trent Richardson will be replaced by Eddie Lacy, who saw playing time in 2011 and looked like he could be a nice replacement for Richardson. Lacy, though, still has to fill those shoes. Richardson had 1,000 more rushing yards than Lacy. And Alabama still has to wait and see who will be their threat at wide receiver. No more Marquis Maze. So, who steps in and fills the void there? Otherwise, teams will start loading the box to stop the run, and we all know the run is what Alabama has to have in order to thrive in the SEC. Alabama loses its top 4 pass catchers of 2011. Yes, you read that right. Brad Smelley was another favorite target for McCarron. Darius Hanks is gone. The Crimson Tide's next pass catcher outside the top 4 from last year only had 17 catches all season. The defensive side of the ball got cleaned out pretty good too. Only 4 starters returning on defense. Lots of holes to fill on both sides, no doubt.

 It is obvious that Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have some questions going into the season. I won't second guess Nick Saban because of the amazing job he is doing, but I think he even has the same questions in his mind. It may not seem like a rebuilding year for Alabama but it very well could be......it also depends on how you define rebuilding.....could be just reloading. Either way, I don't see a repeat season. Tough opener against Michigan. The Wolverines will be hyped for this one, and don't count out a little "championship hangover" from Alabama. Their toughest stretch will be a five game stretch that looks like this: @Missouri, @Tennessee (this game will be better than it looks on paper, I promise) Missippi State at home, @ LSU, and then back home for Texas A&M.

  Repeating is never easy, and with a schedule like this one.....it makes it that much harder to stay focused every week.

Reader Questions can be submitted to jeremy.cf2d@yahoo.com Next segment I will get to a couple of reader questions submitted last week. Thanks and keep them coming.

 And later this week I will breakdown the #2 team in my Preseason Countdown. The USC Trojans. First year off the bowl ban and they are at it again.