BCS and Alabama
by BamaReturns07
on May 19, 2008 1:41 PM CDT
This may be the most useless and pointless post ever, but feel free to respond. Just reading an ESPN article about the top 10 BCS games (Bama/UM 99 - #7) and it occured to me...we have only played in 1 (ONE) BCS bowl in the ten years it has existed. That is shameful. I guess I never really thought of it, but for our program with all the prestige that historically has surrounded it to be nothing but a footnote in the BCS is a microcosm of the probation, coaching changes, and general laisez faire of our team over the past decade.
Any thoughts? I know this could be another long and tired rehash over our problems during the biggest downslide in Bama history, but at least we can revel in the fact that, although we may not be in the NC picture this year, we will have the talent and coaching to be as competitive as possible since 1999 (or earlier). I am interested in your response...
And cue the Barners...
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I agree
I can’t tell you how many arguments I had with ridiculously obstinate Bama fans back a few years ago about the direction our program was going in. They simply didn’t want to hear that things weren’t going well or that we had slipped from the rank of football elite when we clearly had. Any attempts to talk about Bama’s struggles were met harshly until the entire thing finally fell apart. Part of fixing a problem is acknowledging there is a problem. Many people viewed this sort of acknowledgment as an act of disloyalty, which was stupid and unproductive.
I saw it happen, as did a lot of guys I knew/know. The friggin’ ship was sinking to bottom of the Atlantic and nobody wanted to admit it. The big time players no longer wanted to go to Bama. We weren’t sending people to the NFL and we weren’t beating ranked teams at home or on the road. We weren’t being consistent. Years of improvement were followed with years of regression. We weren’t competing for the SEC. We weren’t competing for the top ten or the top five. We weren’t taken seriously outside of Alabama. We weren’t recruiting well. LSU and Auburn became national powers while we became a second-rate team.
by Bamagrad on May 19, 2008 2:07 PM CDT 0 recs
I forgot to add
that we are very lucky we fired Mike Shula when we did. I was hopeful/prayerfully optimistic when he was hired (as I think we all were) but it became clear he would not be the man to do the job. If he had been the coach in 2007, imagine where we would be right now. It would have been a repeat of 2003 and morale would be in the toilet. BJ Scott would be playing for Auburn, Julio would be in Oklahoma, and the majority of our signing class would be dispersed throughout the SEC.
by Bamagrad on
May 19, 2008 2:27 PM CDT
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Preach On!
My first year of school in 2000 were ranked #3 (I think) and I moved in next door to ole Andrew Zoe (sp?). We were destined for great things so everyone thought. after a few HCs, loss of bowl appearances and massive scholarship reductions here we are today. We are a team on the rise but we have a long way to go to get to were we need to be. I for one am tired of the 10 win season talk. There is no such thing as impossible but 10 wins with our schedule is pretty close to it. If we pull out 8 wins possibly 9, next year maybe 10, but even then we will be rolling out a new QB. Unless something injury wise happens this year. It is a process to restore a program after probation and we have a long way to go. On shula I could not agree more. The only reason he was brought in was to get us past the probation era. If Joe Kines would not have won 10 games in 05’ No one every would have questioned firing his arse. His deer in the headlights look was the scariest thing, for a fan, I have seen in a long time.
by IHC800 on May 20, 2008 8:49 AM CDT 0 recs
Remember
When you look at all the last ten years or so of Alabama football, and you look at the series of trainwrecks that our beloved program has endured over those same years, you need to realize two salient points:
- The last ten years would have destroyed most other football programs.
- The Saban era has this program definitely headed in the right direction.
- Rebuilding the program back to the level of the early 90s will take time, almost certainly longer than the 2 years that some fans expect.
I’m not saying that we should expect a 7-5 season next year. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t win 10 games, either. We still lack depth in key areas – that lack will adversely affect the team at some point next season. And personally, I think it’s a bit far-fetched to pin our hopes on a couple of incoming freshmen, no matter how talented.
by UAMemphis on May 21, 2008 2:05 AM CDT 0 recs
I honestly think we COULD win ten games...
...next year, but most of that has to do with everyone else falling off at just the right time (which is pretty much how DuBose, Fran, and Shula had their ten game seasons). Clemson and UGA scare the crap out of me, but the schedule is favorable for everyone else. Ole Miss, LSU, State, and Auburn all have a better than good chance of beating us since we’re a very young team in some key spots, so eight or nine is more likely. But if we get a few breaks, ten is not outside the realm of possibility. But you’re right, if we win ten, it’s not because all the problems have been fixed, it’s just because we got lucky and everyone else didn’t.
by Todd on
May 21, 2008 8:49 AM CDT
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i dont agree so much....
This is a young team but according to CNS, They are starting to buy into the process. We also have an obscene amount ot talent coming to the capstone next year. And for once we will have a small bit of depth. These three indicators point to a good year for the tide. It is still way to early to tell but it appears that the “days of malaise” at bama are coming to an end. Even though we may go 7-5 this year, It will be a much better team.
by tmc1 on May 25, 2008 6:24 AM CDT 0 recs
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