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Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) While many are pointing to the Crimson Tide and saying how hard it will be to repeat, the same could be more so for Alabama's running back Mark Ingram.
Everybody knows each opponent Alabama plays will bring their "A" game because they are playing the defending national champion. A win against them would make the whole season for most teams. Alabama, of course, has a bulls-eye on its back, but the target on Ingram might be even bigger.
It's not bad enough that everybody wants to tell his child how he brought down a Heisman Trophy winner in the open field just to have something of note on their own resume, but the toughest thing that could keep Mark Ingram from repeating may be his own teammates.
Saban's edict that Alabama will throw the ball more this year could seriously hurt the number of carries Ingram gets. Let's face it: Alabama brings back a talented group of receivers along with a senior quarterback who hasn't lost a game since he got curly hair in his nether regions. Why wouldn't Alabama want to throw more?
Here, Ingram is almost his own worst enemy. The sheer threat of him running will be enough to keep the passing game open. But if that weren't enough, there are the other talented running backs waiting to burst into the opponent's secondary.
It helped Ingram last year that Trent Richardson was only a freshman and that Roy Upchurch was often nicked up. Richardson is a year wiser and stronger, so he could contend not only for more carries but also for the main starting job.
If that weren't bad enough, there is another running back that the 'Bama coaches can't wait to see rip through opposing teams as he did all last year against the first team defense as a member of the scout team. Of course, I'm talking about Eddie Lacy, the third spoke in that great running back wheel they have in Tuscaloosa. And there are even more good ones behind Lacy.
Yes, Alabama's own team may do something that no other team could do: cut Mark Ingram's rushing yardage.
Ingram was one of three players Saban brought to SEC media days and of course he was asked in his question-and-answer session: Is winning the second Heisman a goal of his?
His answer was totally unselfish in the way we've all known him to be.
"Of course, that would be great. It's not my main focus. My main focus right now is to better myself as a player each and every day, become the best player I can be for my football team, make the best out of what I can do, put myself in the best position where I can make a lot of plays so I can help our team win games.
"In that way, I'll be successful to myself. Not just winning the Heisman Trophy will determine whether I'm successful or not."
Team first, seeing the big picture, working to make it happen, setting the right goals, all things that Nick Saban has drilled into Mark and things you can see he's adopted when he speaks.
Mark Ingram was and will always be a winner. He doesn't need another ring or another trophy to make him happy. His happiness comes from knowing he's done his best, and his best is what we'll see this year.
Read more Alabama Crimson Tide Football news on BleacherReport.com
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Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Sometimes you get the best story ideas from the least likely of places. A lady handing me my lunch through a drive-thru window noticed my Alabama tag on the car as pulled up. She asked me if Nick Saban was going to get all the good ones again in this year's recruiting.
I told her we should get another top class.
"Do the top recruiting teams always win a championship?" she said.
"No not always, but it sure can't hurt," i responded. And there became the idea for this story.
I got curious and started digging, and boy did some interesting facts pop out at me.
Below are ten teams with their four year recruiting class average by rivals and their respective finishes in the AP final poll. (n/r means not ranked)
Team 2006-2009 recruiting average AP Finish 2006 2007 2008 2009
USC 2.75 4 3 3 22
Oklahoma 4.50 11 8 5 n/r
Florida 5.0 1 13 1 3
Texas 7.0 13 10 4 2
Georgia 7.25 23 2 13 n/r
Florida State 8.75 n/r n/r 21 n/r
Alabama 10.00 n/r n/r 6 1
LSU 10.75 3 1 n/r 17
Miami 11.50 n/r n/r n/r 19
And now the shocker
Boise State 74.75 5 n/r 11 4
As a writer, I've always said that statistics can tell either side of an argument, but these do tell a tale that many will want to argue and debate with their own statistics. They are:
First of all, the big shocker. Putting aside the easy conference argument, Boise State certainly does more with less, from a talent standpoint.
The great assumption you can make here is the fact that Chris Petersen is one heck of a coach who gets the most out of some of the least talented players of almost any bowl team.
From the bottom half of NCAA Div. I talent, he has one of the highest average finishes and that alone may make him the best coach in America.
Secondly, for the last four years, no one has had more talent than USC, yet they still stumble against lesser teams each year. The same can be said for Oklahoma.
Still, USC had some great teams and high rankings to show for it.
Third Conclusion: Only two teams on this list of ten actually won a national championship, Florida and Alabama. But during that 4 year period, Florida had a recruiting number twice as good as Alabama's average.
Therefore, Nick Saban can certainly wring every drop of talent out the players he has in order to overcome teams laden with at least more talent on paper.
Fourthly, speaking of doing a lot with talent, let's look at teams that don't. LSU has almost the same talent on the field as Alabama according to rivals with almost identical numbers, yet LSU's four year average finish is quite dismal in comparison and shows why Les Miles is on the hot seat this year.
It's called squandering talent.
And lastly, despite the most stellar careers in all of football, it is easy to see why Florida State fired Bobby Bowden. They had, according to rivals, a much better talented team for the last few years than Alabama, but in the past four years they had not one finish in the top 20. Talk about doing nothing with a lot of talent.
Bobby Bowden, as good as he was, had great talent and did absolutely nothing with it. One bad year would be an anomaly, four in a row is shows it's no bad year, freak injury or tough schedule.
Also Miami should have better results with all the talent they have. Randy Shannon's seat has been warm for a while too.
So while you celebrate your school's recruits ask yourself first what your team ends up doing with that talent.
Read more Alabama Crimson Tide Football news on BleacherReport.com
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Over the past four years, the SEC has been the best football conference in America. It's impossible not to know. The media and the fans have shoved that fact down the throats of the rest of the country.
However, the title and the gloating are well deserved, as the SEC has won four straight national championships.
Is it still the best conference in America? That remains to be seen. But it will compete once again, as Alabama will undoubtedly start the season as the nation's top team.
The SEC won't be knocked off its perch atop college football easily. Doing so would take a loss in the National Championship. But several other leagues--the Big Ten in particular--have plenty of contenders up to the challenge.
The problem, though, is that in today's media-crazed society, having a good enough team to beat the Alabamas and Floridas of college football might not be enough.
Because of the BCS, there is always the possibility that perfection may not mean a National Championship berth. It happened in 2004 when Auburn (yes, an SEC team) didn't make it to the title game despite a perfect record. It's happened numerous times to undefeated non-Big Six teams, who sometimes get jumped by one-loss BCS conference teams.
Fair? No. But as nearly everyone involved with college football has learned the hard way, life isn't fair.
In a media-driven world, sometimes the opinions of commentators or writers on major sports networks pull as much weight as wins and losses.
That's not to say that Alabama can go 8-4 and automatically punch a ticket to Glendale, but if it is one of three undefeated teams, it almost certainly has a spot in the National Championship.
Because of the unspoken conference hierarchy created by the media, the SEC will always beat out a team from another conference for a spot in a bowl game, regardless of if the other team has been more impressive throughout the season.
With so many solid teams heading into 2010, but no clear superpower, expect the race to be close, unlike last year when it was never in doubt. This means that an SEC team will likely be in the mix, and thus, receive an automatic bid.
It may sound crazy, but because of all the hype the SEC receives, it is definitely possible.
Take this year for example.
Because of preseason polls, the SEC was basically guaranteed a spot in Pasadena. If its champion was undefeated, it got a spot. This ended up costing three undefeated teams--Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State--a shot at a national title.
It ended up not being a huge deal because those teams are either non-Big Six or didn't play a tough schedule, but had Iowa managed to stay undefeated in the final month, or if Ohio State had been perfect, then there would have been an issue.
With so many teams this year that will likely be competitive, there is bound to be a problem with an SEC team jumping a more deserving team from another major conference.
And because of the SEC's preseason hype, a very good team may not be invited to Glendale.
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