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Alabama

PARITY
(Especially on defense)
That's going to be the SEC's big excuse for this weekend after Bama, Tennessee, and Mizzou (A&M was ranked and it was on the road, so not embarrassing, but still a top 10 loss) all went down. "We are just such a deep talented conference, this is just what happens." Even though for years the top dogs in that conference have consistently had zero issues wiping the floor with teams.
 

This is NIL at work. Everybody has some talent, some have lots of talent. We are fighting to beat Illinois, Rutgers and Indiana. Not exactly how I thought it would go in the BIG. We will likely be playing SEC now too. Undefeated will be rare for many teams.
I think this is a bigger example of the transfer portal at work than NIL. Portal gives these top recruits an out when they realize when they go to Bama, Georgia, OSU, etc. that there is a lot of talent you have to be better than to see the field. You see more and more guys realizing it might be better to be the big man on campus at Rutgers, than to be buried down the depth chart at Bama.
 
What in the Palabama happened to them yesterday.
That's all I got, enjoy the day.
Only got to watch the final couple of minutes since our game was going on at the same time, which obviously takes priority.

I watched a good chunk of Vandy's game with VaTech at the beginning of the year, and they actually looked decent (still never expected this). Seems like Bama has some things that need to be answered defensively.

To me, this game highlights what made Saban a coach who was dominant for as long as he was. Good coaches can get you up for the big games, great coaches get you up for every game. Bama was ready for last week's game against Georgia. They clearly underestimated Vandy. Saban led teams very rarely came out flat against teams like this; and if they did, he found a way to wake them up.

When you are the top dog, you get everyone's best shot. There is a target on your back, so you can't walk in like it is going to be a cakewalk.
 
I'm also intrigued to see if #13 for Alabama faces any disciplinary action (either from the team or the league). Took a cheap shot on a player on the first down run that sealed the game (which wasn't flagged), threw a temper tantrum on the field where he was clearly yelling and threw his mouthguard clear across the field, walked up and kicked the ball after it got spotted (got penalized for that), and refused to come off the field when they tried to sub him out after he did that.

That's the type of stuff you can't brush off if you are coach who is building a culture.
 



I'm also intrigued to see if #13 for Alabama faces any disciplinary action (either from the team or the league). Took a cheap shot on a player on the first down run that sealed the game (which wasn't flagged), threw a temper tantrum on the field where he was clearly yelling and threw his mouthguard clear across the field, walked up and kicked the ball after it got spotted (got penalized for that), and refused to come off the field when they tried to sub him out after he did that.

That's the type of stuff you can't brush off if you are coach who is building a culture.

Apparently, he is a Captain as well.
 




I think this is a bigger example of the transfer portal at work than NIL. Portal gives these top recruits an out when they realize when they go to Bama, Georgia, OSU, etc. that there is a lot of talent you have to be better than to see the field. You see more and more guys realizing it might be better to be the big man on campus at Rutgers, than to be buried down the depth chart at Bama.
That could be—but portal guys going to Rutgers or Arkansas will sacrifice prime TV and playoff press. You would think portal guys would leave Bama for Texas or schools that are high profile. I do think the parity is great. Many worried NIL would leave schools out but so far so good for fans.
 
Did anyone notice after the game, Vandy put up a video showing Saban on Gameday saying Vandy was the only place in the SEC that wasn’t a difficult place to play? Now, THAT is a well deserved shaming on the video boards.
In Satan's defense I don't think, up to this point, he was wrong.
 
Pal still living in the past, Nebraska could only beat Vandy if they were in the league
Thats crap ... SEC is top heavy with 6 to 8 good to really good teams. Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn are really bad. Texas A&M leads the conference with 3 conference wins and got soundly beaten by Notre Dame (at home!).

No one knows how good teams like Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas are. Missouri beat Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College (barely) and Vanderbilt (barely). Vanderbilt in addition to Alabama beat VTech and Alcorn State, lost to Missouri and Georgia STATE.

Alabama plays and will likely beat South Carolina, Mercer, Missouri and Auburn but also play Tennessee, Oklahoma and LSU. If they lose another game are they still in the CFP? If they lose 2 more games?
 
That could be—but portal guys going to Rutgers or Arkansas will sacrifice prime TV and playoff press. You would think portal guys would leave Bama for Texas or schools that are high profile. I do think the parity is great. Many worried NIL would leave schools out but so far so good for fans.
I think you do see guys leaving for other schools too. It is a trickle down effect in some cases, as well.

The Alabama predicament has always been, "How much are you willing to bet on yourself?" Unless you are a generational type player, you are probably going to sit at least two years behind other blue chip talent. Do you think that you'll be able to make the most of those small opportunities you get to break through and get playing time?

Raiola faced the same thing in his recruiting decision. Do you go to Georgia and sit for at least a year, if not more, or do you come to some place like Nebraska and play as a true freshman? Most of these guys are some self confident coming out of high school, they think they'll beat the odds and play right away. Many get there and realize what they are up against and are ready to hit the portal.
 



Thats crap ... SEC is top heavy with 6 to 8 good to really good teams. Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn are really bad. Texas A&M leads the conference with 3 conference wins and got soundly beaten by Notre Dame (at home!).

No one knows how good teams like Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas are. Missouri beat Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College (barely) and Vanderbilt (barely). Vanderbilt in addition to Alabama beat VTech and Alcorn State, lost to Missouri and Georgia STATE.

Alabama plays and will likely beat South Carolina, Mercer, Missouri and Auburn but also play Tennessee, Oklahoma and LSU. If they lose another game are they still in the CFP? If they lose 2 more games?
Wouldn't say Notre Dame "soundly beat" A&M. Notre Dame took the lead with 2 minutes left in the game and salted the victory away with a field goal with 30 seconds left. Watched that whole game and it was tight throughout.

Vandy is better this year then they have been, even removing this past Saturday's result. They played well in their opener against VaTech and nearly knocked off Mizzou. Florida also appears to finally be figuring out some of their issues after a bad start. They aren't world beaters but aren't really bad.

This is the deepest the conference has looked in my memory and I say this as someone that normally is screaming that the SEC is just top heavy. Mississippi State is bad, but most of the rest of the conference is at least capable of pulling off an upset against one of the better teams.
 
Alabama plays and will likely beat South Carolina, Mercer, Missouri and Auburn but also play Tennessee, Oklahoma and LSU. If they lose another game are they still in the CFP? If they lose 2 more games?
Alabama will get the brand power bump. People will write off the Vandy loss, unless they look really bad in a few of these other games. If you finish with only two losses, you are probably in the CFP. There might be a three loss team that can sneak in. The Georgia win is going to help Bama a lot, but they also really need to beat Tennessee. If they lose to them, they probably stay in the playoff but fall down toward the bubble.
 


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