With Alabama's almost meteoric rise back to the elite of college football, of which it was so very much a part, even before Bear Bryant; can the Tide win the SEC Championship for the first time since 1999? And should this happen, will they win the National Championship?
If so, and with only nine graduating seniors, is a three-peat possible? But in all due respect to Auburn’s unexpected tough year, will the Tigers refuse to let their winning streak with Alabama be broken? It's difficult to see how the latter will happen, but when playing what many consider the deepest rivalry in college football, as both universities know, totally unexpected upsets in this rivalry will never stop happening.
Assuming the Gators handle the Seminoles, and the Tide beats the Tigers, short of a blowout in either game, the Tide will probably still be No. 1 in the BCS rankings, with the Gators most likely favored in the SEC Championship Game.
Since losing Bryant, there have been a few promising times in which it appeared Bama had made it back, yet the Tide was seldom able to hold onto any sustained winning seasons. But Alabama's long stretch of so seldom being part of the elite, appears to be over.
The best winning percentage during these rough years was in the 80's, under the coaching of the very honorable Bill Curry. He had played for and was the coach at Georgia Tech, before accepting the offer to coach the Tide. But far too many bitter feelings were still being held against his relationship with "The Rambling Wreck", a rivalry that was as intense as Alabama’s rivalry has always been with Tennessee, before Tech left the SEC.
Beyond this, what was most disliked about Curry was his inability to come up with a team that could beat Auburn. His third and last year at Alabama was Alabama’s first time of going to Auburn, instead of playing the Iron Bowl in Birmingham every year. With the Tigers beating an undefeated Tide team, that was contending for a national championship, this resulted in Curry officially resigning shortly after the Tide’s loss to Miami in the Sugar Bowl.
Bama’s storied tradition began in the 1926 Rose Bowl in which they beat Washington 20-19, earning the Tide its first of their twelve national championships. Even though Washington had played no active part in the Civil War, with the South still reeling from having lost the war, followed by ten years of reconstruction, this was “their” first victory, since the Civil War was over.
Southerners were finally able to claim a victory over the "Yankees." On the train ride back, the Tide was repeatedly greeted by large crowds, beginning from Texas, down to New Orleans and all the way up to Tuscaloosa. Their first full day back was more or less a city holiday, in which there was a big parade with celebratory festivities lasting the rest of the day. The words "Remember the Rose Bowl, we'll win then", in "Yea Alabama", the now well known victory march for the Tide, came as a result of Alabama’s first Rose Bowl victory.
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about 1 month ago
Unfortunately Alabama will never really return to the glory days of the Bear. Im sorry but even us Bama fans are going to have to realize it will not happen. Never again will such a thing occur. Can Nick Saban carve out his own glory days at Alabama? Sure. Will it match those of the Bear? No.
People say Bama fans talk way too much about the Bear. Heres an example of why. 13. Not the number of championships Bama will have if it wins the BSC this year. 13 is the number of SEC championships Bear Bryant won in 25 years. Most schools in the SEC cannot claim that many in their history much less in 25 years. 6. The number of national championships the Bear coached Bama to. In 25 years Bear Bryant lead Bama to 6 national championships. Most schools in the COUNTRY cannot claim that many in their history. And finally at the time Bear Bryant was the winningest coach in history.
Will Alabama return to the glory days like those of 1958 through 1982? No. But will Saban carve out his own piece of the Bama legacy? He has already started.
about 1 month ago
If USC can be so dominant in the PAC-10, why can't Bama do the same in the SEC? Both of these teams have the most tradition in each conference, with the right coach (Nick Saban and Pete Carroll), 9 SEC titles and 6 National Championships in 20 years can be done. Far fetched? Maybe. Impossible? No.
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