What can prevent Alabama from reaching the College Football Playoff? GameDay crew weighs in
By Adam Spencer
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Coming into the 2017 season, the Alabama Crimson Tide are the No. 1 team in almost every poll.
Therefore, they’re heavy favorites to be one of the four teams to qualify for the College Football Playoff at the end of the year.
However, there are some potential roadblocks for coach Nick Saban’s squad, coming off a year in which the Crimson Tide lost the national championship game to Clemson.
On the first College GameDay show of the season, analysts Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on what they think could cause Alabama problems this fall.
To be clear, both Herbie and Howard like Alabama’s chances to make it back to the CFP, but Herbstreit said he wants to see some new leaders step up in the Alabama locker room.
“They’re going to have the talent, but are they going to have the leadership?” he asked. “Who’s going to be that guy this year? That, to me, is the only thing that can hold them back.”
Howard, on the other hand, will be interested to see how new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s unit performs in the early part of the season.
“If they’re having issues getting on the right page, I think they could struggle early on,” he said. “Outside of that, or an injury to a key player, I don’t see how they don’t make it.”
We won’t have to wait too much longer to see how the Crimson Tide look this year, as they’ll face an immediate test in No. 3 Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
