Should Alabama be ranked?

By Marc Hudgens  |   Tuesday, August 14, 2007  |  Comments( 4 )

Alabama Crimson Tide
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Entering the 2007 college football season, does Alabama deserve to be ranked in the top 25?

There's a lot of things to consider when coming up with preseason polls. Most of those focus on which players return from the previous year and how the coaching staff shapes up.

Sure, Alabama now has Nick Saban, the biggest boon to the program in a long time. And Saban has Major Applewhite and Kevin Steele as his coordinators. Fans of the Crimson Tide should be hopeful based on those facts alone.

Other facts -- the team returns most of its offensive line, a record-setting quarterback in John Parker Wilson and a record-setting receiver in D.J. Hall. If the other receiver, Keith Brown, brings his 'A' game, Wilson will have two go-to guys, and the tandem of Hall and Brown will probably be the best receiving duo in college football.

Alabama also has a talented group of returning defensive backs, namely one of the SEC's best cornerbacks, Simeon Castille, and hard-hitting junior safety Rashad Johnson.

But it's not as if the Crimson Tide has no issues.

First, the defense. Even though end Wallace Gilberry returns, the line looks a bit peaked. So much so that reserve center Brian Motley is considered for the role. There's simply no depth at the moment.

Second, sophomore Prince Hall is the top linebacker. Nothing against Hall, but for a player as young as him to be thrust into a leadership role is indicative of a lack of experience at that position.

Finally, the third reason for concern comes on offense. Now that running back Kenneth Darby is off to the NFL, there's a battle for his spot going on among several players.

Distilling all of that, plus Alabama's fairly recent SEC title in 1999 (not recent enough for its fans, I'm sure), it's still a cloudy picture. Since that SEC title, Alabama has had two 10-win seasons. But the team has also endured three losing seasons and two so-so ones, including a 2-2 bowl record in which the only prestigious bowl in that quartet was the 2006 Cotton Bowl, where Alabama barely beat Texas Tech.

It's safe to say that Alabama isn't an elite school at this time. The program is clawing its way back though, doing what's necessary to redeem itself. The $4 million paycheck that Alabama is handing Saban every year clearly shows it means business. Saban is the new hope down there -- and it's a legitimate one. Saban's defense-oriented brain has the ability to improve the struggling unit in relatively quick time, so there should be marked improvement inside two years. Hopefully for the Pachyderms, this will happen even quicker, given that the defense allowed an average of about 20 points per game last season. You can't do that and expect to win the SEC.

But to rank the Tide going into this season? Tough one. They've got a lot going for them, but there's also a few key things against them.

Not ranking them is probably the right thing to do. But let's see how they do in the first game. If Alabama annihilates Western Carolina, then putting the team in the top 25 would be reasonable. Especially if it's a shutout, because that will demonstrate immediate defensive progression.

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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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