After the Nashville Predators lost in the Stanley Cup Final, I’m looking for anything and everything to cling on to in my sports fandom. Thankfully, Dennis Dodd has me covered with a write up on the college football season opener.
More than history will be made on Sept. 2 when the teams meet in Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Consider that teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the 81-year-old AP Top 25 have never met in a season opener.
If the rankings cooperate with such a matchup — and they should — it would be the earliest such 1-2 game in history.
Ah, yeah – there it is. I can almost feel the cool Autumn breeze blowing on….wait…no, it’s still going to be hot as hell on September 2nd. Scratch that part. I can almost feel the it’s-still-hot-but-since-it’s-like-1,000-degrees-in-August-it-feels-reliving breeze rolling across my face. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the leaves to change color, and my stomach will be in knots for the biggest opening game for the Crimson Tide in recent memory.
Smack dab in the lull of the offseason, Saban was more introspective, actually contemplating the implications of a loss while relaxed in a Tide meeting room.
“The consequence of the game is you really find out where your team is,” he said. “Even if you lose, I think it really helps your prepare for the difficult games you have in the conference down the road.”
Who is this being that has taken over the body of Nick Saban? I’m concerned about this, folks. This is very clearly not the human we once knew as Coach Saban. Actually acknowledging what there is to gain from a loss? Relaxed? No way. Don’t buy it.
Saban began playing such nationally-relevant nonconference games the moment he arrived at Alabama in 2007. That year, Florida State — still coached by Bobby Bowden — beat the Tide 21-14 in Jacksonville, Florida. Alabama hasn’t lost its traditional marquee nonconference game since.
Seven of the nine contests have been against ranked teams — three of them against top 10 opponents. All but a home-and-home with Penn State (2010-11) have been at neutral sites.
It hasn’t changed in all these years – I invariably turn in to a nervous wreck before each of these games. It doesn’t matter who it’s against – USC, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan, whoever. You just never know, though, right? Look at last year’s USC team – that team ended up winning the Rose Bowl after starting the season by getting slaughtered at the hands of the Tide. If they had played at the end of the season, maybe it’s a different story. But, you never know which team is going to show up in these big marquee games.
It feels like every year, we Alabama fans are saying, “okay – this is the year the program comes back down to Earth a little bit.” And, it just hasn’t happened. Of course, that only means it grows more and more likely with each passing year.
Now, I’m nervous again.
The storylines are juicy. This is Saban’s first meeting against his old LSUoffensive coordinator in Jimbo Fisher. The friends won a national championship together in 2003. Fisher would be the first former Saban assistant to beat the Alabama coach.
Saban’s accomplishments are well-documented. Fisher (78-17 at FSU) has taken the Bowden legacy and shined it up to make it even more gilded. Saban and Fisher have combined to win five of the last nine national championships.
Goosebumps. *UGH* Can football season get here already?
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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