The Alabama Crimson Tide has put their stamp on college football as the best team in the country following a national championship and back-to-back SEC West titles. The biggest question being asked right now is whether Alabama is talented enough to make it three in a row in the toughest conference in football.
Head coach Nick Saban and his staff did an excellent job reloading in the offseason and the consensus is that Alabama is in prime position to make it three SEC championships in a row. That would require the Crimson Tide first taking care of business in the loaded SEC West where there is no doubt they will once again have a tough road ahead of them. The question is who will stop them? Auburn was just 2-6 in conference play last year. Texas A&M is rebuilding and so is Mississippi State. LSU would be a threat if they had a quarterback. Ole Miss has a quarterback but many other parts of the team are an uncertainty. And Arkansas is a work in progress. Alabama is probably the soundest choice to win the SEC West.
Here is the case for whether Alabama will win the SEC West this season.
Why The Tide Won’t Win The SEC West
The factors that should work against the Crimson Tide are obvious including that eventually every good run must come to an end. Alabama’s dominance atop the SEC and on the national stage has been absolutely incredible to watch but they are the only team to make the College Football Playoff two years in a row and it might be too much to ask them to do it a third straight time.
The Tide still haven’t announced who their starting quarterback will be and it’s hard to imagine their run game being any better after losing Heisman trophy winner Derrick Henry to the NFL. Alabama’s schedule won’t make things any easier as they open the year against USC and then face a tough SEC slate that includes road games at Tennessee and LSU. That will be a tough schedule to navigate for a young football team and clearly the deck is stacked against them this season.
Why The Tide Will Win The SEC West
That said, if any team in the country has earned the benefit of the doubt that it can contend for a conference championship on an annual basis it is the Crimson Tide. Alabama has consistently picked up the pieces and made the necessary adjustments to get the job done regardless of the turnover over the years and that includes at the quarterback position where Blake Sims and Jake Coker led the way over the last two seasons. Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has done an outstanding job with his quarterbacks while there is a definitive case to be made for Saban as the best head coach in college football.
The odds are that one of Cooper Batemen, David Cornwell, Blake Barnett and Jalen Hurts will emerge as a legitimate No. 1 under Kiffin while Bo Scarborough and five-star recruit Damien Harris pick up the slack at running back now that Henry has moved on to the NFL. The Alabama defense isn’t expected to miss a beat and as long as everything comes together as expected the Crimson Tide will once again be the best team in the SEC this season.
Outlook
After strong consideration to both sides of the equation, it seems clear that despite a tough road ahead, it is hard to bet against the Tide. Alabama might have a rockier road back to the College Football Playoff but this group is still talented and organized enough to make another run. All good things must come to an end eventually, but Saban and his staff has done a tremendous job consistently reloading over the years. This year’s roster has the potential to be the best in the SEC once again. The Tide will have a tough road to an SEC championship but there is no way that we can look past them as the top team and the betting favorite to win the SEC West once again.
