Labor Day weekend just passed, which means that a new season of college football is finally here.
And with every new season comes new expectations. Heisman hopefuls do their best to make a great first impression in their opening games. National title contenders look to have stellar performances to stay at the top of the rankings. And the defending champions look to reclaim their prize from the season before.
In this case, the defending national champions are the Crimson Tide of Alabama who certainly made a great first impression on their championship defending season.
Alabama destroyed the Wolverines of Michigan this past Saturday night 41-14 in an absolute annihilation of the Big Ten’s top team — supposedly.
Is the Crimson Tide poised to win their second straight national title and third title in four years? They certainly have a good chance to do so, although they will once again have to go through the bloodbath that is known as the SEC West.
Their familiar foes LSU and Arkansas are both itching to take out the defending champs this season when both welcome the Tide to their home fields. And who’s to say that one of those teams can’t make a run for the title? Or maybe another SEC team like number six ranked Georgia or number nine ranked South Carolina?
Because with every new season also comes a familiar question, which SEC team will win the national title this year? Because let’s be honest, SEC is college football, there is no other, right?
Is there even another conference out there? Because the last time I checked, an SEC team has won the national championship the last six years. Is there a non-SEC team out there that might finally win the national title this year? Or will the boys from down south extend their streak of dominance to seven years?
Will someone finally put an end to this and spare the rest of the nation the embarrassment of being looked down on as the little brothers of the SEC?
Yes, I am talking to you Southern California. The Trojans come into this season ranked preseason number 1 ahead of both Alabama and LSU who combined only lost one game last season. Now that USC is finally bowl eligible again, will they be the ones to take the SEC off of their high horse?
Or will they crumble underneath the pressure like every other team has done in seasons past? Last season Oklahoma was ranked preseason number 1, expected to run the table and go to the national title game, even predicted by some to win the title.
But the Sooners, (who are ranked number 4 this season) disappointed and couldn’t keep their record spotless, which is a requirement to play in the national title game now-a-days, unless of course you’re an SEC team. The pressure is on USC, everyone is relying on them to go undefeated and win the national title. But their journey won’t be easy either. They have a big date with the Oregon Ducks on November 3rd which should determine who wins the PAC-12.
It will be a long season, and there are sure to be many surprises along the way. It would be nice to see a team outside of the SEC win a title this year, but it won’t be easy. If that were to happen then everyone will have known that that team earned it. It doesn’t come easy in college football.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to tyrollason@yahoo.com.
