All dynasties end; we saw that with the Patriots in the last couple of years.
Is Alabama on the down slope?
Is Alabama on the down slope?
Is the Alabama Dynasty over?
- Thread starter burmafrd1943
- Start date
Team Recruiting rankings.
2023- # 1
2022- # 2
2021- # 1
2020- # 3
If it's over, they aren't going far.
I thought it was when they hired Rees. Thank God.
Talent is not everything. That has been proven again and again.
And recruiting rankings are just potential and nothing more.
To me its more a case of Saban just not having the staff he did in his peak years; and other teams like Georgia catching up. There was at one time a significant gap between Alabama and everyone else. Not any more.
It's slipping away. Rees may be the final nail
My guess is we're returning to the usual statistical outcomes, where any conference dominate. Colorado, Ohio State, USC, FSU, Miami, Texas, and, I dare say, our Notre Dame look >= any SEC team, save Georgia. The SEC pushed the bar with social and academic accommodation, but other schools have caught up...maybe now going beyond with NIL and transfers.
There was never any reason why a USC should be inferior to any SEC team. CA talent. Great locale. Tradition. But unfairly punished, paving the way for the SEC. Well, things are turning. Miami and FSU with Florida talent speak to a similar story.
There is a long season to go. I could be wrong. But I'm betting what Colorado is doing is the future.
And on that, well, it gives me hope for ND. A charismatic and talented coach can make a difference. Freeman is showing some of this. I was harsh up to now, particularly last season. I often discussed the negative odds of success in not hiring a proven coach, how ND has difficulty getting the best.
Again, I'm hoping Freeman is the outlier. That he can do something to get the best scholar-athletes to win a NC against semipro factories that will academically and socially accommodate. This Irish teams looks pretty good...sound in all areas, good running backs, an emerging receiving corps, and tough D.
Oh yeah, a good QB too. Best for me since Weis with Quinn and Clausen, albeit with a much better team this time...and coach! Freeman. My hopes are high. I want to be so wrong on ND being able to win a NC.
Anyways, in short, yes, I think the Alabama dynasty is over. Things have equalized that the teams with the better talent should win. Saban has no distinct advantage here...facing just in time dynamic change with transfers and NIL that another programs are leveraging.
There was never any reason why a USC should be inferior to any SEC team. CA talent. Great locale. Tradition. But unfairly punished, paving the way for the SEC. Well, things are turning. Miami and FSU with Florida talent speak to a similar story.
There is a long season to go. I could be wrong. But I'm betting what Colorado is doing is the future.
And on that, well, it gives me hope for ND. A charismatic and talented coach can make a difference. Freeman is showing some of this. I was harsh up to now, particularly last season. I often discussed the negative odds of success in not hiring a proven coach, how ND has difficulty getting the best.
Again, I'm hoping Freeman is the outlier. That he can do something to get the best scholar-athletes to win a NC against semipro factories that will academically and socially accommodate. This Irish teams looks pretty good...sound in all areas, good running backs, an emerging receiving corps, and tough D.
Oh yeah, a good QB too. Best for me since Weis with Quinn and Clausen, albeit with a much better team this time...and coach! Freeman. My hopes are high. I want to be so wrong on ND being able to win a NC.
Anyways, in short, yes, I think the Alabama dynasty is over. Things have equalized that the teams with the better talent should win. Saban has no distinct advantage here...facing just in time dynamic change with transfers and NIL that another programs are leveraging.
I think it's the beginning of the end....not the end. Who knows when saban will call it a day or how much he will be involved in who replaces him. Bama won't sit by and accept the collapse of an enormous empire.
Notre Dame will never out recruit Alabama for HS players. The south is far too stocked with damn good HS football players, and Alabama accepts anyone academically that has a pulse. That's the problem. So if you want to say the Alabama dynasty is "over..," OK. But that said, they aren't going anywhere too far anytime soon.
This is not how it was back in the day. ND actually got the better talent. A national program and brand, not just a state or regional outlook.
Ok, I get things have long changed. The Tide have long been the more attractive football destination. And will probably continue to out recruit ND...probably.
But like I discussed, I'm hoping this can change. Football is changing a lot. We can't predict a lot of it. And I for one have been wrong about NIL and transfers helping only the factories...no, it's more distributed.
I'm thinking and hoping ND build a brand within the volatility of NIL and transfers. Odds are against it. But I have some reason for hope based on what I see after 3 games...with a long season to play.
I’m sorry, but you lost me on Colorado and USC being unfairly punished. What?
USC being punished was a joke. So Cam Newton's family can get away with it, but Reggie Bush can't? I won't go into the full rabbit hole, but USC got punished for what the SEC normalized.
The SEC got away with 1 there. Paved the way for their dominance as USC was the SEC killer at the time. Let's see, now that USC and the others have learned to play by the rules...useless degree paths, athlete housing, formality of NIL, and other perks, all on the up and up.
Yeah, the NCAA has cleaned things up.
😏
USC and Reggie Bush got punished because they lied and stonewalled the NCAA every step of the way during the investigation.
Reggie Bush took lots of cash from an agent while in school, would not pay the guy back, and deserved everything he got. And so did USC. Screw them.
So if Auburn got away with it, USC must be excused from it? That’s a very juvenile thought process.
You wouldn't be more wrong. Selective and biased application of the law is one of the worst ways to undermine the spirit of the law. I have to laugh when I have this egregiously 1 sided discussion, as so many buy the hypocrisy of the NCAA and SEC...actually, like I said, it's now been normalized and hence equalized.
Here's a good take on the matter: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/ncaa-owes-athletes-reggie-bush-heisman/619361/
We can agree to disagree. Fair enough.
But what you’re advocating is basically, “Other people were speeding too officer, so I shouldn’t get a ticket unless they do.”
Of course the NCAA investigations weren’t balanced. It all was built upon school cooperation during the investigation process. To my knowledge, there weren’t any actual laws requiring schools to self report or cooperate. Any school that didn’t fully cooperate seemed to be able to skirt the punishments or at least the severity of them. And to be honest, the SEC as a conference, didn’t seem to have many schools that cared about compliance. They’d bitch about cheating during their media day conferences, but that’s about far as they cared. Once they were caught basically red handed, it was the , “Everybody else is doing it” excuse that you’re now using for USC.
USC deserved what they got, regardless of what everyone else got away with. Everyone else deserved the same as USC whether or not they actually got it
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USC still earned the penalties. They have cheated since the 60’s. Doesn’t matter that Cam got one over
For sure it’s on a decline. No longer the alpha in the SEC. No longer getting its choice of recruits as A+M and UGA and others are now landing them. Has more regular season losses in last 15 games than it had in previous 5 years
STILL TOP 7 though
STILL TOP 7 though
“Team Recruiting rankings.
2023- # 1
2022- # 2
2021- # 1
2020- # 3
If it's over, they aren't going far.”
A&M has had similar classes lately and look at them.
2023- # 1
2022- # 2
2021- # 1
2020- # 3
If it's over, they aren't going far.”
A&M has had similar classes lately and look at them.
You’re dismissing the nuances to force a false equivalence.
Yes, I have no case if I get a ticket as long as everybody else does.
But I do have a case if the law only goes after me while letting others get away with it.
Note: it’s not a case of lacking resources, just how and against whom.
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Even in communism you find many cheerleading doublespeak and doublethink.
😉
BTW: I believe this also factors into the demise of the PAC. Conference left them hanging. At least the SEC backs each other in the farce.
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“Jimbo win the SEC? Hell no. Zero chance.”
That’s not saying that much considering that Georgia has ruled the roost lately. But my point was that you posted their recruiting classes as if that’s all it takes. I said A&M has had “similar” rankings & “look at them”, meaning there are a lot of schools that have high recruiting rankings that don’t win it & some that don’t win or even go .500. That’s all I meant, but considering that bama has had those classes & they’re playing the way they are (last year losing two and easily could’ve lost two more) and then watching them lose at home and not look particularly good on either side of the ball, it’s not a stretch to talk about it. I don’t think they fall out of grace too far but it has some earmarks of a slight drop. Now, w/ all that said, they could easily run the table. Look at their schedule, and find a loss. I think Texas is really good (at least offensively) so I believe bama will find themselves having to beat Georgia (who also plays no one) to make it to the final four. If they do, they’re in and the evil empire continues. 😉
That’s not saying that much considering that Georgia has ruled the roost lately. But my point was that you posted their recruiting classes as if that’s all it takes. I said A&M has had “similar” rankings & “look at them”, meaning there are a lot of schools that have high recruiting rankings that don’t win it & some that don’t win or even go .500. That’s all I meant, but considering that bama has had those classes & they’re playing the way they are (last year losing two and easily could’ve lost two more) and then watching them lose at home and not look particularly good on either side of the ball, it’s not a stretch to talk about it. I don’t think they fall out of grace too far but it has some earmarks of a slight drop. Now, w/ all that said, they could easily run the table. Look at their schedule, and find a loss. I think Texas is really good (at least offensively) so I believe bama will find themselves having to beat Georgia (who also plays no one) to make it to the final four. If they do, they’re in and the evil empire continues. 😉
It does feel like 1994/95 Lou Holtz's final days. Saban has had a great run and will go down as one of the greatest ever. Weird seeing the fans leave early during the game.
When you have won 6 CFB titles since 2009, Alabama has nowhere to go but down. Where else are they supposed to go? If Alabama goes 10-2, it's a failed season. That said, Alabama recruits way way way too well each and every year, and are coached way too well, to expect them to go too far.
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