College Football: 10 teams doomed to be worse in 2016
By John Buhler
The Alabama Crimson Tide are the gold standard of college football. Winning four of the last seven National Championships will do that to a program. One could easily argue that the Crimson Tide could make it five titles in eight years. Then again, 2016 has the potential to be one of Nick Saban’s toughest seasons in Tuscaloosa in some time.
Alabama begins the 2016 NCAA season as the No. 1 team in the country. The Crimson Tide have earned that right being the defending National Champions. Will they maintain that spot all season long? They can get it back, but Alabama is going to lose at least one SEC game this year, possibly two or three.
The Crimson Tide’s schedule is brutal. Their five toughest games this season are all going to be away from Bryant-Denny Stadium: vs. USC Trojans in Arlington (September 3rd), at Ole Miss (September 17th), at Arkansas (October 8th), at Tennessee (October 15th), and at LSU (November 5th).
They’ll have a week off to prepare for LSU on November 5th, but back-to-back road games against Arkansas and Tennessee might be a spot for a potential letdown mid-season. Keep in mind that Alabama hasn’t beaten Ole Miss the last two years and that USC might have as much talent on its roster as the Crimson Tide. Alabama should beat USC, but there is upset potential there in some capacity.
Not only do the Crimson Tide have an immensely difficult 2016 slate, they also lose key player personnel and members of last season’s coaching staff. Alabama is young and inexperienced at center, running back, quarterback, and in the defensive front seven. The Crimson Tide reload better than just about anybody in the Power 5, but not every positional replacement this fall is going to be a blockbuster hit.
Though Saban regains a familiar face on the defensive side of the ball in Jeremy Pruitt as his new defensive coordinator, Saban loses former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to the Georgia Bulldogs’ head coaching position and two other key defensive staff members in Mel Tucker and Glenn Schumann.
At worst, Alabama will be a top 10 program at the end of the year, vying for a New Years’ Six Bowl. This team will win at least 10 games this fall. However, the Crimson Tide will lose at least one SEC game, probably two, maybe even as many as three. They can still be champions, but they are going to have to run through a serious gauntlet to even get the opportunity.
Next: 8. Virginia Tech Hokies.