5 College Football Playoff contenders who haven’t played like it yet
By John Buhler
4. The Nick Saban/Alabama Crimson Tide dynasty is officially dead, aight
Nick Saban may really want to be on an ESPN TV studio set now, as his Alabama Crimson Tide look nothing like a College Football Playoff contender. The Tide already lost at home to Texas in Week 2 and nearly fell to... South Florida... in Tampa?! Yes, the Charlie Strong sleeper agent theories are running wild this morning. Alabama did hold on to beat USF 17-3, but it should have been a cakewalk.
With Saban punting on Jalen Milroe already and Tyler Buchner simply not being it, what are the Crimson Tide to do? See what Ty Simpson can do going forward? How about see if Dylan Lonergan is the best of the bunch? We have been presented problems and offered no solutions when it comes to the Crimson Tide offense, one that Tommy Rees looks completely over his skis trying to run for them.
Overall, there is nothing we have seen out of the first quarter of the season that leads us to believe Alabama will beat the likes of LSU and Ole Miss in SEC West play, or even prevent a rare losing streak to Tennessee in the Third Saturday in October. The last time we saw a three-loss Alabama team, Cam Newton played for arch-rival Auburn. This really feels like a bad season some 13 years in the making.
Unless Alabama gets it right in 2024, we may have seen the last Saban championship in Tuscaloosa.