Alabama will begin 2013 as No. 1, duh. Who’ll give chase?
Will we see these two teams go at it again this December? Maybe. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – On the morning after securing his fourth BCS championship ring, Nick Saban was asked what he does with his BCS championship rings. Does he wear them all at once? Rotate them by month, by week, by day?
Said Saban: “I just put ‘em on the coffee table for recruits to look at.”
This drew a huge laugh — such a kidder, that Nick! — but it does underscore the problem facing the rest of college football. Success on the field begets success in recruiting, which begets even bigger success on the field, which is how one team in a cutthroat conference has come to claim consecutive BCS titles and three of the past four.
And Alabama now has bigger fish to fry. Only three programs — Notre Dame in the late ’40s, Nebraska in the ’90s and Saban’s Alabama — have taken three (legitimate) national championships in four seasons. No school has ever won three in a row, or four in five seasons. But who’s apt to derail this Bama locomotive?
After his Crimson Tide crushed Notre Dame 42-14 on Monday night, Saban spoke of how difficult this latest journey had been. “We got here by five yards. Georgia was five yards away from scoring (in the SEC Championship game). So it’s a pretty tough league that we play in, and we’re going to have to continue to try to improve as a program to have an opportunity to win the SEC Championship or the national championship ever again because of the competition in our league.”
Then this: “Look, we’re really happy, we’re really pleased, we’re really proud of what we have to do here. We’re going to enjoy it for 24 hours.”
And then back to work. For Alabama, the next game will come Aug. 31 against Virginia Tech in the Georgia Dome. The Tide will enter the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game ranked No. 1, perhaps by unanimous vote. But what teams will be in closest — not to say truly close — pursuit? An early look at the 2013 Top 25.
1. Alabama. Duh.
2. Ohio State. Urban Meyer is the only active coach with even half as many BCS titles as Saban, and the Urbanator just went undefeated in Year 1 at his latest stop. It’s intriguing that Meyer has had two unbeaten seasons, neither at Florida. This tells us what we already knew: He can coach a little, too. And in Braxton Miller, Meyer may have his next Heisman winner. (His first was a guy named Tebow.)
3. Oregon. The most stunning development of the month wasn’t Florida losing the Sugar Bowl to Louisville but Chip Kelly apparently choosing to stay in Eugene. For months his departure to the NFL had been seen as a fait accompli, but he hasn’t gone anywhere yet. Assuming he doesn’t, the offensive onslaught will continue. (Provided the NCAA doesn’t intervene.) Think of sophomore-to-be quarterback Marcus Mariota as the Johnny Football of the Far West.
4. Texas A&M. No team — not even Alabama, which lost at home to the Aggies — was playing better at season’s end, but some remain skeptical. Is Johnny Manziel really that good? Will Johnny Football be the same without left tackle Luke Joeckel, who’s leaving for the NFL? Will the raging Aggies offense rage on without coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, gone to Texas Tech as head coach? Will flavor-of-the-month A&M be the same the second time around the SEC.
5. Georgia. The Bulldogs could play them themselves out of the Top 25 by the end of September — or they could stamp themselves as the biggest threat to Alabama. They open at Clemson, and then they play host to South Carolina and LSU in two of their next three games. The Bulldogs’ defense will be radically reconstituted, but with Aaron Murray’s decision to stay in school the offense should be even better.
6. Clemson. The road to ruin has been paved with rosy forecasts for the orange Tigers, but the Clemson that beat LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl really did seem more forceful. (Skill was never an issue.) The runner Andre Ellington departs, but quarterback Tajh Boyd and bookend receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins return. And Clemson is finally starting to play a little D.
7. Notre Dame. In the aftermath of Monday’s thrashing, SEC zealots were heard to wonder if Notre Dame would even finish in the top half of the only league that matters. Wrong question. The right question: Could any college team have held up against Alabama playing at its absolute zenith? (Answer: No.) Forget 42-14. Do not underestimate the capacity of a famous program that has, after many false starts, gotten it going again. Do not underestimate the recruiting pull of the Fighting Irish.
8. Stanford. Remember when USC was supposed to reclaim the Pac-12 for Troy? That lasted only until the Trojans ran across Stanford, which has weathered the recent losses of coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Andrew Luck to remain robust. In David Shaw, the Cardinal has its new Harbaugh; in Kevin Hogan, it has its new Luck. Coming off its first Rose Bowl victory in 40 years, Stanford eyes even bigger prizes.
9. South Carolina. Jadeveon Clowney might or might not win the 2013 Heisman Trophy, but barring injury he’ll be the nation’s best player. Steve Spurrier has proved he can win without the great back Marcus Lattimore, gone from Columbia after a second knee injury, and the Gamecocks stunned Clemson in Death Valley without injured quarterback Connor Shaw. But in 2013 Carolina will play Georgia in Athens, and the Bulldogs are past due in that game.
10. Florida. The bloom came off a return-to-glory season in that Sugar Bowl — even Gators fan Chipper Jones Tweeted his displeasure — and now Florida faces tough questions. Can its pedestrian offense, ranked 103rd among 120 FBS teams, improve enough to play for championships? This is no trifling matter, given that the Gators’ defense is losing seven starters. And, in case you missed it, the Georgia alum Will Muschamp has yet to beat his alma mater.
And the rest: 11. Louisville. 12. Florida State. 13. Boise State. 14. Oklahoma. 15. TCU. 16. Vanderbilt. 17. LSU. 18. Northern Illinois. 19. Oregon State. 20. Kansas State. 21. Oklahoma State. 22. Miami. 23. Georgia Tech. 24. Nebraska. 25. UCLA.
By Mark Bradley
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264 comments Add your comment
Red Stick
January 9th, 2013
2:22 pm
Under The Bleachers
January 8th, 2013
2:41 pm
“LSU is the one who is going to be hurting,,,they are losing a ton of guys and the rats seem to be jumping the ship very fast down there. Have you seen their list of guys leaving? Unheard of the number of guys who are not even in the top 4 rounds of draft. Going to get interesting for them.”
LSU has 9 juniors who have declared for the draft. Of those only Ware, Ford and Wing are not projected for the first 2 rounds. Ware and Ford are behind Hill and Blue on the depth chart and arguably behind Hilliard. Neither one will get enough carries in 2013 to improve their draft stock so they have nothing to gain by staying another season especially considering the short shelf live of running backs in the NFL. Wing is leaving as it’s rumored that his girl friend is pregnant and he doesn’t like attending class anyway.
LSU won’t miss Ware and Ford and they have another capable Australian punter who punted in the bowl game to replace Wing.
The Tigers are losing 6 starters on D. They have talented guys ready to step in. The key, like UGA, is whether these guys can step up.
You make it sound like there is a mass exodus in BR. If the players are disenchanted as you have alluded to, why is LSU currently ranked 4th in recruiting by Rivals?
More concerning for us is if LSU’s offense improves next season.
Geaux Tigers
Amused
January 9th, 2013
2:32 pm
There seem to be a lot of frustrated UGA fans out there. Alabama is a machine; if they had 30+days to prepare for UGA, I doubt UGA would have been able to compete against Alabama like they did in the SEC Championship (just ask LSU how last year went). I concur with blue that the SEC is hands-down the best conference in the country. But UGA fans, please don’t forget you looked just like ND against Alabama when you played at South Carolina this year, and lost by the same number of points. And you looked lackluster in the game against Nebraska, who by the way, was blown out by Wisconsin 70-31; this was the same Wisconsin team that lost to Stanford, and the same Stanford team that was beat by ND. Silly to say ND would finish next to last in the SEC based on one game. UGA had a great year; be proud and quit whining about ND because fortune did not smile on you this year.
press release writer
January 9th, 2013
2:34 pm
There are likely to be some surprises among college teams out there, if you look at the statistics I’m placing on my own blog later today: http://www.pressreleasewriter.info
Red Stick
January 9th, 2013
2:36 pm
@7IML &Tide Rising,
Congrats on winning it all. I loved the way you guys steamrolled ND. They saw first hand how physical the SEC is.
It looks like it very well may be a 3 peat for you.
Geaux Tigers
AltamahaDawg
January 9th, 2013
2:45 pm
I guess we will be getting to see Tahj Boyd after all.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
January 9th, 2013
3:22 pm
Boyd played like a champ in the LSU win no doubt. Some of the passes he completed were just perfect even though LSU had them well covered. Big year for Dabo and the Tigers. It is very possible they’re about to turn it up a notch.
secbama
January 9th, 2013
3:22 pm
Montravious Adams, Alvin Kamara, Laremy Tunsil, Reuben Foster, Dee Liner…come over to Nicks’ house for an official visit. He has some rings on the coffee table he would like to show you! Ha, RTR #15.
7576DAWG
January 9th, 2013
3:46 pm
I don’t want to minimize the job that Boyd did against L.S.U. but he was perfect in his ball placement which I don’t think will ever happen again. At least 5 of the important receptions were ” Hail Mary ” passes and would have been intercepted if the L.S.U. defender just turned around and played the ball or at worst they would have been incomplete passes.
Boyd will easily win the Heisman if what I call being very lucky turns out to be all skill. We will see.
Erk
January 9th, 2013
3:46 pm
Mark, good for you for excluding grossly overrated Oklahoma. Let’s see them play an SEC schedule and come away with less than 5 losses.
Krystal Burger Cop
January 9th, 2013
3:48 pm
Live update from Miami….
I just want to say the the Bama fans this year so far have been fairly good to deal with. I think most Tide fans who have come down here brought their manners and have decided to actually use a table to sit at instead of another man’s shoulders. We have had a few guys pull their pants down in public but we made them leave asap. The university must have put out a memo for Bama fans to keep their pants on while in Krystal’s this year and it has paid off.
Update… A ND fans was passed out in Krystals but we got him into a safe spot before a Bama fan could sit on his head butt naked.
Goober Dawg
January 9th, 2013
4:05 pm
You shore got a purty girfriend.
Nativebird
January 9th, 2013
5:34 pm
Gee mintly you guys never learn. Alabama swamps the once again highly over rated NOtre Dame and you spend the next 7 months trying to dream up contorted logic excuses of what you just saw did not happen. Believe it. The SEC IS that much better than the rest…..and especially hype machines like ND in whom every media horring network simply just wants to desperately wish their glory back. FORGET IT. The south is better because our players are better…..Period.
Buckeye
January 9th, 2013
5:41 pm
erk,
The dogs played an “SEC” schedule. They beat Floriduh who lost to Louisville, they lost to South Carolina by more than Nortre Dame lost to Alabama and they lost their biggest game of the year.
So, stick the “SEC schedule” up your SEC! SEC! butt.
Alabama is the SEC! SEC!, The rest of you are wannabes.
Buckeye
January 9th, 2013
5:44 pm
Tennessee, Auburn, always dangerous Vanderbilt, Miss State
Now THAT’s an SEC! SEC! schedule.
kingdaddy
January 9th, 2013
7:28 pm
You babies quit crying about SC/UGA. The Dawgs finished the year a different team than the one SC beat and SC finished the year a different team. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. ND finished awful. UGA ended the year with a bang! Polls say we’re a top 5 team. If you don’t like it, just cry some more…LOSERS…
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
January 9th, 2013
7:42 pm
Hey King is this years UGA recruiting team going to be The Five More Yards Team?
Breaking news from Miami….the stadium grounds crew report that have found parts of Manti’s tattooes that Eddie Lacey knocked off of him! UPS will ship those to Manti at the Pope’s expense 1st think Thursday.
Nick Saban is upset that the Alabama fans aren’t sticking with his 24 hour rule on celebrations. Couches are still being reported as burning in Alabama.
Wall Stree New….Warren Buffet of Clayton Homes will have his company build a special edition Alabama National Championship Single Wide that should be a huge seller for Clayton. As you would expect the UGA folks are upset but Warren has that covered since he will build one for the UGA folks but it will be 5 yards short of the Bama version.
kingdaddy
January 9th, 2013
8:28 pm
Willie
Congrats on the great win. Bama done good son…
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
January 9th, 2013
8:40 pm
Actually the Ohio bucs may be a pre-season Top Ten, but remember they have to beat Indiana, Purdue, Minn., Penn State and a few MAC teams!
Under The Bleachers
January 9th, 2013
8:58 pm
One has to respect UGA with Murray returning, their offense will be quite quite good and they should put up 40 points a game, the defense will give up a great deal of points which make things interesting. Clemson up first will be a major major challenge, then USC comes to town looking to start their season off with a strong SEC start, and with a full compliment of Defensive players that will be the game in which we will see what UGA’s season looks like.
Win the line of scrimmage then you win the game, win the division, win the conference and win another BCS title for the SEC.
icedawg
January 9th, 2013
10:55 pm
At this point in 2013 anything is possible. There are so many unknown factors that will play out. It would seem that AL, OSU, and OR are probably the front runners. Who knows, the DAWGS could have a better performing defence next year if it can find folks who can play run defence.
Nashdore
January 9th, 2013
11:16 pm
Interesting comments about the Vanderbilt Commodores. As I mentioned before the season, VU would win 8 or 9 games. This is Brand New Vanderbilt – not the one that many uninformed fans may believe or perceive.
VU is committed to competing and winning the SEC. Yes, believe that fans. Franklin is there to stay for the long run. VU is putting millions into their football program and facilities.
VU will be better this coming season. Get on board! VU football is a winner now.
allRTR
January 10th, 2013
12:48 am
mark this down—alabama’s 2013 will be even better than this BCS champion—bama rolls again, beats Ohio state in the title game—title #16 on the way!! RTR!!!
Bama Fan #2
January 10th, 2013
5:53 am
Alabama will be hard to beat this year but losing 3 great
offensive linemen will be tough for Nick Saban to replace!!!
RTR 15NC’S
Techfan
January 10th, 2013
6:50 am
ESPN can just make sure the preseason top 10 is all SEC schools, then win-loss records won’t matter and they’ll have another 2 SEC team championship like they want. It’s all about the $$$$$$$$
Cobb Dawg
January 10th, 2013
8:32 am
Alabama has a very good football program. And I’ve heard all the dynasty talk. But some people forget that Bama didn’t play in the SEC title game last season, and were 5 yards away from being a non-issue this season. They’re good, probably consistently the best over the past 4 seasons. But let’s be careful on the dynasty talk.
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8:46 am
[...] play in the SEC Championship last season and were 5 yards away from being forgettable this season. Alabama will begin 2013 as No. 1, duh. Who’ll give chase? | Mark Bradley __________________ 'I've found that prayers work best when you have big players.' Knute Rockne / [...]
Gary
January 10th, 2013
8:54 am
I think the common concensus of what I am reading here is the OHIO STATE is NOT considered by anyone who reads your opinion to be worthy of the list and certainly not number 2. ND and the other bowl games showed the weakness of the big ten. Even if Ohio State manages to do it again I and I think most of the non big ten country would be willing to pass them over for a one loss from the PAC or Big 12 and a 2 loss from the SEC just to avoid another embarrassing display on the national level from that conference. That is just a horrible group of football teams.
againstcorruption
January 10th, 2013
9:05 am
Until the NCAA investivates the suit thing over in Loosa they have all the advanages to keep winning. Alabama should not have been allowed in the NC race this year. Lose a game and fall back two places where no one else has a fair CHANCE to play for the NC.Texas A and M is by far the best team in the SEC by a hundred miles. Maybe this will be the year that the NCAA does there job.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
January 10th, 2013
9:05 am
Bama will have 4 guys go early to the NFL. PC today.
Fluker,Lacey,Milliner, and a surprise in Adrain Hubbard (old Georgieee boy)
Thanks to all those fine players and wish the best in the NFL.
wilsonpickett
January 10th, 2013
9:14 am
Mark, I really don’t understand how you have Clemson ranked that high, particularly when they are losing Hopkins? They had their doors blown off by South Carolina at Clemson (with a backup QB) and FSU. They beat Les Miles when he had his typical brain fart and lost a game he should have won. Dabo has not shown he can beat a really good team. They will win a bunch because of their crappy schedule and the crappy league they play in. I don’t see them beating UGA or South Carolina. Clowney might get double digit sacks in that game.
Moist Dawg
January 10th, 2013
9:32 am
Gary, notre dumb is not in the big ten genius.
Against, a&m lost to a mediocer floriduh team and a crummy Lswho team so try again
The bottom line is that bama will have 3 losses next season and will be exposed as a fraud. Clemson is a joke, and UGA will be a dominant force. The Dawg dyNASTY starts today.
No
January 10th, 2013
9:40 am
I’m still hoping to meet a Bama fan that actually went to the school (or has even been to one of their games). Worse than Yankees and Cowboys fans.
JD
January 10th, 2013
9:59 am
Yeah, No doubt ya gotta give Bama their due and Ga. did lose SEC game by 5 yards and poor rush defense. However to have Ohio State, Oregon or any other team listed ahead of GA at this years end or next years polls is a croc. Look at the slug-fest SEC game between Bama and GA and tell me ND, OSU, Oregon or Aggies could have measured up. None of those teams belong in the same sentence with Bama or GA much less above them in the polls. For any team desiring entry into the elite category or in BCS ratings they should be compelled to play any SEC team to qualify. The evidence speaks for itself.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
January 10th, 2013
10:01 am
No…..you’re a sad little boy. You shouldn’t attempt to talk the best team down to your teams level for it doesn’t work.
1980…that is a long long time ago. Don’t blame Alabama for your programs failure to reach the top. Blame Nick Saban and his oversigning,redshirting,greyshirting,no shirting, and the refs. Join the real crowd. Roll Tide
Mark
January 10th, 2013
10:20 am
Does anyone on Alabama’s schedule have a chance to beat them? Does Saban lose to A&M two straight years? I doubt it. They have the easiest schedule in Football with Ga State, VT, Colorado State, UT Chattanooga, TN, KY…what a joke!
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Angela
January 10th, 2013
11:51 am
Alabama did not start 2012 at number one even after winning the BCS Championship last year – USC did. They will start 2013 around number 5, even though they repeated.
LifetimeTider
January 10th, 2013
12:15 pm
Mark, the joke is on you. Envy is one of the seven deadliest sins, and you need to do some heavy repenting. Here’s the deal, We’re Alabama, and you’re not. Get used to it.
Flo- Ri - Duh
January 10th, 2013
12:26 pm
Notre Dame head coach Kelly is flirting with the NFL….. and ESPN is about to have a nervous breakdown over it. Kelly put the Eagles on hold while he is on vacation. Signing day is about three weeks away and some recruits have already signed early. Notre Dame has one of the best “commit” classes in the country and these commits are going to look around. UGA needs to give Isaac Rochelle a call – if Kelly leaves maybe Rochelle leaves?
Flo- Ri - Duh
January 10th, 2013
12:36 pm
A&M was strong in the trenches and that is a big reason why they beat Bummer. According to the evaluators the 1st DE and 1st OT drafted will be from A&M and they could go #1 & #2 in this draft. Has that ever happened before? So- my point is that A&M will lose others to the draft also and won’t be quite as good as in 2012.
AUGUY
January 10th, 2013
12:37 pm
“Tennessee, Auburn, always dangerous Vanderbilt, Miss State”
Auburn will be back pretty soon. Mock them all you want but Gus Malzahn just put together a fantastic football coaching staff.
Good luck on probation, Buckeye.
AUGUY
January 10th, 2013
12:38 pm
” They have the easiest schedule in Football with Ga State, VT, Colorado State, UT Chattanooga, TN, KY…what a joke!”
Sort of reminds me of a certain school who had an easy schedule last year. Who was that team again?
AUGUY
January 10th, 2013
12:38 pm
“my point is that A&M will lose others to the draft also and won’t be quite as good as in 2012.”
You sure about that?
Flo- Ri - Duh
January 10th, 2013
12:43 pm
Bummer will start out rated #1 in 2013 in Saban’s final year with the Tide ….. his next stop will be the TEXAS Longhorns – no way is he going back to the NFL where he was a total failure. Georgia will be one of the best offenses in the nation and may be playing Bummer again in the SEC champ game.
Flo- Ri - Duh
January 10th, 2013
12:45 pm
Clemson’s best WR just declared for the NFL draft….. at least two more Bummer’s will declare for the draft – Lacy being one of them.
Flo- Ri - Duh
January 10th, 2013
12:53 pm
The A&M undergrads have already declared for the draft – at leas one DE and one OT will go in the top 5 and a couple of more will be drafted. If you believe Auburn will be back SOON…. be prepared to be disappointed. Their 2013 recruiting class will be gutted – I mean GUTTED. They have NO QB and thir entire defense is BAD.
Flo- Ri - Duh
January 10th, 2013
12:55 pm
Notre Dame vs Auburn would have been a great bowl game this year as both were behind by 4 TD’s or more to Bummer at the half.
RTR15
January 10th, 2013
3:18 pm
Saban’s winning another title in 2013—book it. His 2013 team will be even better–just reloading with more superstars. Title #16—bet the house!