eallenjohnson

There's no doubt Georgia is winning the East, but as a Bama fan, this isn't even the game that worries me. No offense Georgia fans, I'm not saying the Bulldogs aren't better than Auburn (they are) but I've been a Bama fan my whole life, and no matter how much better Bama looks, Auburn is still a good team that is getting better, and the Tide go into Jordan Hare on November 25th. Can we at least get the Iron Bowl out of the way before we start calling the SEC title predictions?

Yeah don't worry about the haters. Vandy looked dominant today. Y'all could've struggled with some third rate team like Nicholls, but you went out there and dominated. Who cares what attendance was looking like?

It also hurts the other programs when Saban is beating other SEC programs for recruits in their own back yards. Just the other day we saw the reports of Alabama taking Christopher Allen from Baton Rouge. Were it not for Saban, that would've been an LSU player, much like how he snatched Reuben Foster from Auburn. Jalen Hurts is a Texas quarterback. Many could argue that if Saban weren't so dominant against A&M they might have been able to recruit him. 10 of Alabama's 23 early enrollees are from other SEC states; only 6 of them are from Alabama.

Remember when Georgia fired Mark Richt because they thought a 9-win season was beneath them? Looks like Kentucky will be in the SEC championship game before Georgia gets back.

Ole Miss needs a new coach, but not Les. Go get Tom Herman. Shouldn't be too hard to steal him from Houston. Don't get me wrong, I like Les, but Ole Miss needs to bring fresh blood into the SEC if they want to make a splash. We already know Les's cap.

Have you not been paying attention? Alabama has only gone undefeated once in 20 years. Saban's only undefeated season was '09, which was followed by the most disappointing season in Saban's tenure at Alabama. And if you think the sting of finishing 9-3 that season didn't motivate them, call Kirk Cousins and ask him how much fun he had playing Bama in the Capital One bowl.

The Bear won six, period. It took him 37 years to do it, including Maryland, Kentucky, and Texas A&M, but he won six. Dating back to Michigan State, Saban has been coaching for 30 years, and he's won 5. That's still a damn impressive resume, but until he wins six, it's a closed argument. Is he the best coach now? Yes. But best of all time? He still has to prove that.

Watson is gonna come out like a man on fire next year. Good luck. Y'all are gonna need it. But I'd love to see Auburn upset Clemson.

Good of the conference, man. Bama first, SEC second. The best players want to play for the best team in the best conference. This year, Bama proved once again that they are the best team in the SEC. How does the SEC prove they are the best conference? Winning bowl games and non-conference matches. That means The Barn has to bear Memphis and avenge Ole Miss's stumble. You bet your ass I'm cheering for Auburn against Memphis, because if Memphis goes 2-0 against the SEC and doesn't even win the AAC, it weakens the entire conference.

As a Bama fan I feel like Clemson should be the odds-on favorite. I mean, sure, I'd never bet against Saban, but the Tide are losing a lot this year--weren't there 27 players who already graduated?--and DeShaun Watson will probably be the best player in college football next year (no disrespect to Fournette. He's a great runningback, but DeShaun Watson almost single-handedly beat Bama on Monday).

The Tide are gonna be losing a lot this year, including (most likely) Drake, Coker, Ragland, Jones, Jackson, and Derrick Henry. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tide stumble. Saban has gone back to back before and it wouldn't be impossible for him to do it again, but after losing so many players this year and the chip Butch Jones's Vols will have on their shoulders next season, if there's a year for Tennessee to step up and knock the Tide down, next season is as good as any.

As a Bama fan, I'm not ashamed to say I rooted for Auburn in the National Championship game when they beat Bama, just like I did for Florida. End of the day, whether it's the regular season, a bowl game, or the national title, I feel like you always gotta back the SEC when they play a non-conference game. But I agree. Henry and OJ Howard both had great games, but Deshaun Watson looked like the best player on that field and he had an amazing season. I got a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of him next year, and if it ain't the Tide (who will likely be breaking in a new QB and two new RBs), it better be another SEC school there to meet him and Swinney in the title game.

Sorry, but last I checked, the Bear had six. Saban is a great coach, and the best college football coach in the game today, but he hasn't caught the Bear yet.

Don't forget Julio Jones also put up insane numbers this year. His 1871 yards and 136 receptions were both Falcons franchise records and both 2nd in NFL history. It's a good year for Alabama receivers.

It'll have to be the best championship game in NCAA history for Colin Cowherd to be amused. I don't care how close it is, just how it ends. Roll Tide.

I got a better idea. You take the rivalry game and Alabama's token loss, the Tide will move on to the playoffs (again) and the Vols can go on to humiliate Baylor in the Sugar Bowl like Ole Miss is doing to Oklahoma State.

He's not wrong, though. Tennessee looked like the best team in the East most of this season. Look forward to playing them twice next year. Roll Tide.

Isn't this the same guy who said all season the Tide were overrated? Clearly he's just trying to get headlines. That said, he's partially right. As an Alabama fan, there wasn't a moment after the LSU game I didn't think they'd be in the championship game. Maybe predictability makes the sport boring, but Alabama's playstyle, to me, doesn't. That pass rush was a lot of fun to watch. Cyrus Jones's punt returns, not just in this game, but several throughout the season, were fun to watch. Those opportunistic corners and safeties are even more fun to watch. I'm a defensive guy, it's how I was raised, and I enjoy a good pass rush, I enjoy watching quarterbacks try to improvise in the pocket, even when it's my own quarterback (Coker is surprisingly good at it). But is a single dominant team bad for the sport? That's like saying Michael Jordan was bad for the NBA. That's like saying the Yankees dynasty was bad for baseball. You know what bumps ratings more than giving the world a team to love? It's giving everyone a team to watch fall. There'll be two types of people next week when Bama and Clemson meet: the SEC fans and everybody else. And the ratings will be through the roof because of it. Casual fans will watch because the only thing better than watching a dynasty rise is watching one fail. I know, because I can't stand the NFL anymore, but I still watched the Super Bowl last year just to see the Patriots get knocked off (disappointingly, they did not). That's the kind of exposure that is damn good for the sport, and the kind of challenge that makes every other team better. Tom Landry wasn't bad for football. Jim Brown wasnt bad for football. Vince Lombardi wasn't bad for football. Jerry Rice wasn't bad for football. Bear Bryant wasn't bad for football. General Neyland wasn't bad for football. They all made football better in different ways. And one day, when he's retired, they'll say the same about Saban, because for better or worse he changed the level in which college final was played. If Cowherd can't see that, he shouldn't be given a pedestal to shout from.

"quick ascension to offensive coordinator with the Oakland Raiders" Do you guys ever fact check? He was never the offensive coordinator for the Raiders. He was the head coach. And he was abysmal at that. As a Bama fan, I'll be glad to see him go. He hasn't impressed me at all this year. Coker, as highly touted as he was, has not developed as a passer at all, the offense is embarrassingly predicable--in almost every game 70% of the plays always seem to be screen passes or runs--he tries too often to get too fancy in the backfield which leads to too many negative plays. Why is Coker in the pistol so much? What happened to lining up the QB under center on running plays so the tailback can get steam before the handoff? Under Lane Kiffin, Alabama's offenses have scored points because they've had incredible athletes and a great offensive line, and still have been incredible inconsistent. The third down conversion rates in many games have been awful through the first half and they do a terrible job at finishing drives. I hope he's ready to be a head coach, and I hope he gets a call really soon, because I still can't see what Saban sees in him.

Why would the coaches take issue with that tweet? They were showing good sportsmanship and, as a former defensive player myself, I feel like you want your players to be excited for a challenge. You want your linebackers to be excited to line up against great backs just like you want your corners excited to match up against great receivers. Nobody criticized Heargraves when he said he was looking forward to the challenge of covering Amari Cooper.

At the same time, Saban has turned the Alabama into a well oiled machine. People thought the dynasty would waiver after AJ McCarron graduated and a new QB would have to be broken in, and Blake Sims got them to the playoffs. Here again with a brand new QB and without the best player on last year's team, Amari Cooper, the Tide are still SEC Champions and headed for the playoffs. If you're coach Saban, you gotta be thinking about six rings, right? I mean, it'd put him above Frank Leahy and tied with the Bear, and I got a feeling Saban ain't coaching for anything but his legacy right now.

Looking at it again, it does look photo shopped. MSU game should be fun to watch. I'll also look forward to the Gators showing Harbaugh and the Wolverines how the SEC plays defense. Damn shame you guys don't get a piece of Urban Meyer, though. That would've been great.

Only week I don't like Butch is the Third Saturday in October. He's a good guy. Don't mind the trolls.

Happy for Coach Smart, look forward to beating him in the SEC Championship game, but do we have any confirmation yet if he'll be with the Tide through the playoffs?

Seriously, those Gator fans should be ashamed. The Gators went from 6 regular season wins to ten. They sent from 4 conference losses to 1. They swept their division. And that defense looked great on Saturday. I think that's the best run defense Derrick Henry has faced since Arkansas. Yeah, you hit the skids at the end of the season when your offense started struggling. Well here's a thought: don't blame your entire team, the coaches who did their best to get the players ready, the defensive players that are making Alabama fight for every yard, the kick returner who housed that kickoff, and the quarterback who was doing everything he could to keep the game alive. If anything, blame the quarterback who best Tennessee and Ole Miss, then got suspended for using PEDs. Don't blame the guys who kept fighting and got you to the SEC Championship.

I'd be surprised if they actually run it, but I would love to see Henry in the wildcat getting direct snaps, especially when Drake is healthy.

As a Bama fan, I'd love to see Keenan Reynolds win the Heisman. He's an amazing player on and off the field who likely will never pay football again. Henry winning the Heisman would be nice, but if they don't win the title it's still gonna feel hollow.

Tide offense* I been drinking.

Florida has a good run defense, but Drake will see very little, if any, play time. The way the Tide defense is run, Henry will likely see 30 carries against Florida and I will be impressed if he doesn't get 100. Not that it can't happen, but it'd be impressive.

Yeah, but Henry has more yards against Auburn (271-228), Ole Miss (127-108), Arkansas (95-91), Mississippi State (204-159), and A&M (236-159). And Henry had games where he didn't break 100 yards, but he also had limited carries against ULM, Charleston Southern, and MTSU. Unless Henry completely collapses against Florida, he has to be the favorite.