Today's B&B show

[bulldognation]

Comment made on the show today got me thinking... we just accept that we're going to lose to Bama year after year. Seems like the best we hope for is a respectable showing, a-la aTm this year. I know they're beatable, but the overwhelming majority of the time they're going to hand you a loss while they routinely make their way to the CFP. They're routinely ranked in the top 3 year-after-year. They have blue chips riding the bench.

So my question is, will we ever see 'Bama as anything other than multiple levels above the rest of the SEC/Country?

Law of averages just doesn't seem to ever apply to them.

Discuss.

 

[HD6]

Alabama has lost 3 SEC games in the past five years, two of them to a program that is about to be nailed for cheating. It's not just an MSU problem.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

Bama will come back to the rest of the conference when Saban retires in 4-5 years (hopefully earlier). Bama has a unique ability to 17 up a coaching search, try to remember that one of the reasons they have Saban is the Rich Rod accepted the job & then changed his mind. Rich Rod would have kept Bama in the middle of the pack in the SEC right where Shula had them.

 

[johnson86-1]

Comment made on the show today got me thinking... we just accept that we're going to lose to Bama year after year. Seems like the best we hope for is a respectable showing, a-la aTm this year. I know they're beatable, but the overwhelming majority of the time they're going to hand you a loss while they routinely make their way to the CFP. They're routinely ranked in the top 3 year-after-year. They have blue chips riding the bench.

So my question is, will we ever see 'Bama as anything other than multiple levels above the rest of the SEC/Country?

Law of averages just doesn't seem to ever apply to them.

Discuss.

Bama struck gold with a coaching hire. That's all there is to it. They got the premiere coach, and just as importantly, they got him after he got the NFL bug out of his system. And also luckily for him he is so driven that he is going to maintain the intensity longer than most can.

When Saban leaves, they'll be up and down. Still a top program but you won't be able to pencil them into the playoffs year in and year out.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

What Nick Saban has done at Alabama is a big reason some of these coaches are gettin fired and put on the hot seat prematurely.

Luckily our administration isn’t dumb enough to get caught up in it.

 

[bulldognation]

Other programs have reached that plateau, but can't seem to sustain it the way Alabama does year in and year out. That's my point. If nothing else, they are consistently at the top due in large part to Saban and "the system" he has over there.

So the consensus is that Alabama will falter once Saban retires? That or the NCAA uncovers something massive... (Is Alabama scandal-proof?)

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

Other programs have reached that plateau, but can't seem to sustain it the way Alabama does year in and year out. That's my point. If nothing else, they are consistently at the top due in large part to Saban and "the system" he has over there.

So the consensus is that Alabama will falter once Saban retires? That or the NCAA uncovers something massive... (Is Alabama scandal-proof?)

They won’t “falter” imo. Alabama is always gonna be Alabama. But they won’t be so unbeatable imo.

 

[patdog]

Bama was just another big 6 SEC program for 25 years between Bryant and Saban. They'll always be a program to be reckoned with, but they're no different than LSU, Auburn, Florida, etc. without Saban.

 

[Resolved]

I'm more concerned about the three non-Alabama games left to play. EVERYONE has us at an automatic 9-3 record. I hope the team realizes we have to play those games, and win them.

As for Bama, I just hope our team has more confidence in beating them than I do. And HD is right, we're far from the only program that has trouble with them. The boys in Oxford sold their souls for two in a row against them and we see how that worked out.

 

[MSUDC11]

I don’t see us moving the ball on them all that much. Our only chance to keep it close is for our defense to play an excellent game.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

I disagree Alabama was not the Bama of old from the time Bear Bryant retired until Saban was hired. They won a Natty in 1992, but they were not totally dominant from 1983 thru 2007. They were actually middle of the pack SEC from 1996 thru 2007. Hell we went 5-7 against them in that 12 year span. I am full confidence that cast of idiots will screw up their next coaching search and it will be tough to coach in the shadow of Satan.

 

[myusernamesucks]

So, because they’ve been really good, we should be okay with getting blown out by them every year. ******* brilliant.

 

[maroonmania]

Comment made on the show today got me thinking... we just accept that we're going to lose to Bama year after year. Seems like the best we hope for is a respectable showing, a-la aTm this year. I know they're beatable, but the overwhelming majority of the time they're going to hand you a loss while they routinely make their way to the CFP. They're routinely ranked in the top 3 year-after-year. They have blue chips riding the bench.

So my question is, will we ever see 'Bama as anything other than multiple levels above the rest of the SEC/Country?

Law of averages just doesn't seem to ever apply to them.

Discuss.

Over the recent years its been shown that to beat Bama you need a very good passing game with a mobile QB. That is the way OM won 2 against them and the way A&M beat them with Manziel. Its also the way Clemson was so successful playing Bama the past 2 championship games. We have a mobile QB but unfortunately we do not have a very good passing game and really just use our passing game off of the success of our running game. Hard to have much of any real success running on Bama. What made OM so successful the past few years against Bama is that most of the time OM doesn't really even try to establish a running game anyway or fool much with even trying to run at all. By playing that way you take away what is normally Bama's biggest strength which is their run defense.

 

[johnson86-1]

Other programs have reached that plateau, but can't seem to sustain it the way Alabama does year in and year out. That's my point. If nothing else, they are consistently at the top due in large part to Saban and "the system" he has over there.

So the consensus is that Alabama will falter once Saban retires? That or the NCAA uncovers something massive... (Is Alabama scandal-proof?)

I think the consensus is that Saban is freak that is too driven to do the natural thing and rest on his laurels a bit after getting to the top. Coaches that get to the top like that have generally spent the last 15-20 years (or more) driving themselves hard to reach the top. Most coaches after spending a decade or two eating, breathing, and sleeping football (and recruiting) are naturally going to want to enjoy it after they get their championship and multimillions of dollars. And even if they are personally willing to push themselves, it's potentially difficult to continue to drive coaches and players after they have tasted that kind of success.

It's not that Bama is going to flater per se. It's just that it's extremely unlikely they are going to get to the level of consistency they are at now. If they make a great hire, they are going to continue to compete for championships, but in their down years, they are going to be a team that's in the 10-25 range, not the 4-6 range. If they make just a good hire, they could easily look like FSU with Fisher, with bad years them not being a top 25 team and not being in the top half of the West.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Nobody is ok with it, they just don’t live in a fantasy world where they think we can compete with them

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

Fitz & Co will have to throw and catch better if we want a shot. Otherwise they'll load the box and play man coverage on the outside.

 

[kired]

It doesn't stop until their recruiting slips. They recruit the best of the best EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Other teams bounce around in the top 10 or top 5, but Bama is at the top every year for about the last 7-8 years. Consider what an impact a 5-star player has for us and then realize they have a roster full of those guys. It hard to imagine how much talent Saban has signed. There's no excuse for Bama not to compete for championships every year with the talent they have. If you can start for Bama, you're almost guaranteed to at least be signed as an undrafted free agent.

There is no way to stop them winning on the field until their recruiting falters. I don't know how that happens unless a few more teams rise up & begin getting taking some of their recruits. Honestly the best thing to bring them back to earth would probably be a resurgent SEC East with Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee all consistently recruiting well.

 

[philduckworth]

Our defense is better so that helps, but we need a couple of receivers capable of making big plays. We can't run the ball right at them.

 

[BiscuitEater]

I don’t see us moving the ball on them all that much. Our only chance to keep it close is for our defense to play an excellent game.

Bama has 4 games left .. LSU, @ MSU, Mercer, @ Auburn .. They will be favored in all and I see their chances of winning as .. 85%, 80%, 89%, 80%

We have a much better chance to beat them in '18 with Fitz as a SR, new WRs coming in and overall more experienced team.

 

[bulldognation]

Haven't considered this angle, but you make a great point. The fall of the SEC East has left Alabama all alone atop nearly every top recruits list from the South and beyond.

Nowadays, Alabama is a monopoly and has the market on recruits cornered.

 

[ShrubDog]

Bama struck gold with a coaching hire. That's all there is to it. They got the premiere coach, and just as importantly, they got him after he got the NFL bug out of his system. And also luckily for him he is so driven that he is going to maintain the intensity longer than most can.

When Saban leaves, they'll be up and down. Still a top program but you won't be able to pencil them into the playoffs year in and year out.

They got a heck of a deal worked out with the local car dealers as well, lets not kid ourselves.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

We will beat them next week like a mechanical monkey beats cymbals.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

I don’t see us moving the ball on them all that much. Our only chance to keep it close is for our defense to play an excellent game.

We'll need a defensive score. I don't see any other way of making it happen.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

The system is more polished. Last time they got sloppy was Albert means?

 

[thekimmer]

Bama has 4 games left .. LSU, @ MSU, Mercer, @ Auburn .. They will be favored in all and I see their chances of winning as .. 85%, 80%, 89%, 80%

We have a much better chance to beat them in '18 with Fitz as a SR, new WRs coming in and overall more experienced team.

This kind of goes without saying as there's not a team on the planet that they wouldn't be favored against outside of the NFL. The lowest point spread they have had all year was -7.5 vs Free Shoes. After that they have all been -20 or higher. That trend will continue until the SECCG.

 

[Dawgzilla]

They will come down. Everyone does. Although I agree it will probably take Saban retiring to really stop their current momentum.

However, our problem is that Bama's defense just shuts down Mullen's offense every year, so it seems impossible to beat them. Mullen has faced Bama 8 times. 6 times his offense only scored once, and one time he got 10 points. In 2014 we scored 20, but that included a late and mostly meaningless TD. (there's was barely any time left to recover and onside kick and try to score again). Unless Mullen figures out a way to move the ball against Bama's D, we may as well chalk that game up as an automatic loss.

 

[dorndawg]

Bama has 4 games left .. LSU, @ MSU, Mercer, @ Auburn .. They will be favored in all and I see their chances of winning as .. 85%, 80%, 89%, 80%

We have a much better chance to beat them in '18 with Fitz as a SR, new WRs coming in and overall more experienced team.

89% percent chance against MERCER? The Intramural Flag football runner-up at Bama would beat Mercer 89% of the time

 

[thekimmer]

Comment made on the show today got me thinking... we just accept that we're going to lose to Bama year after year. Seems like the best we hope for is a respectable showing, a-la aTm this year. I know they're beatable, but the overwhelming majority of the time they're going to hand you a loss while they routinely make their way to the CFP. They're routinely ranked in the top 3 year-after-year. They have blue chips riding the bench.

So my question is, will we ever see 'Bama as anything other than multiple levels above the rest of the SEC/Country?

Law of averages just doesn't seem to ever apply to them.

Discuss.

The biggest wonder to me about bama is how they are able to stockpile so many blue chips. Players that would be standouts on other teams content to just be part of the three deep. Nobody else comes close to doing it like them.

Saban at bama was the perfect storm. A coach with limitless drive at a program with limitless resources. I would give my left arm to be in their position but I do think it has been detrimental to the competitiveness of the conference as a whole.

 

[cowbell88]

We'll need a defensive score. I don't see any other way of making it happen.

A pick 6, a scoop and score, and a special teams score, and no other mistakes.