An SEC championship and an undefeated season are still very much on the table.
But this team should not be judged based on that team.
Just some things of note:
2009 Alabama, undefeated national champ: A 20-6 win over a 7-6 S. Carolina team. A 12-10 win over a 7-6 Tennessee team. A 26-21 win over an 8-5 Auburn team.
2010 Auburn, undefeated national champ: A 37-34 win over a 6-7 Kentucky team. A 27-24 OT win over a 6-7 Clemson team.
2011 Alabama, national champ: A 45-21 win over FCS GA Southern. It was a ten point game midway through the third quarter. Many Tiders consider this their best team.
2012 Alabama, national champ: no close calls or losses except for really, really good teams. (loss to top #5A&M, #12 LSU, #4 UGA, all final rankings)
2013 FSU, undefeated national champ: 48-34 win over 7-6 Boston College. Up 24-17 at half.
2014 OSU, national champ, lost to 7-6 Va Tech team 21-35. Needed double OT to beat a 7-6 Penn State team. Beat a 4-8 Indy team by 15 and a 5-7 Michigan team by 14.
2015 Alabama, national champ, beat an 8-5 Arkansas team by 13 at home, beat a barely ranked 9-4 Tennessee team at home by 5, beat a 7-6 Auburn team by only two scores last game of the regular season.
2016 Clemson, national champ, beat 8-5 Auburn by six points, beat Sunbelt Troy State by six points, beat 7-6 NC state in OT, Lost to 8-5 Pitt,
2017 Alabama, national champ, beat 7-6 A&M by 8 points
2018 Clemson, undefeated national champ, beat 9-4 A&M team by two points. Really good team. Beat that incredible 2018 Bama team like a drum and only had one other game they struggled with and it was a very good team as well like A&M.
2019 LSU, as good as they were, beat 8-5 Texas team by only 7. Beat 9-4 Auburn team by 3.
2020 Bama, undefeated national champ. beat 5-5 Ole Miss by 15 and was closer than that most of the way.
2021 UGA, no games within 20 to unranked. One loss to eventual no. 2 team. One close game to eventual no. 14.
Point being most teams on this list are not like our 2021 team. They are like our team this year. And actually, many of them have had much closer calls than our team this year has had.
Missouri, no doubt that we were sweating it. But we got the lead, got them off the field and ran the clock out. No praying we make or they miss a FG. No OT.
Kentucky- they never had the ball one time in the second half with a chance to take the lead in the game.
As far as today, I didn't take the time to look through halftime scores for these teams, but do remember that 2018 Bama team that lost to Clemson, but was really, really good was tied at the half vs. the Citadel in their cupcake game before facing Auburn.
It is hard to answer the bell every week. Incredibly hard to do it in an impressive way every week. This team looks very, very strong and has put out great football when people thought we'd be challenged. I expect them to play well from here on out.
But this team should not be judged based on that team.
Just some things of note:
2009 Alabama, undefeated national champ: A 20-6 win over a 7-6 S. Carolina team. A 12-10 win over a 7-6 Tennessee team. A 26-21 win over an 8-5 Auburn team.
2010 Auburn, undefeated national champ: A 37-34 win over a 6-7 Kentucky team. A 27-24 OT win over a 6-7 Clemson team.
2011 Alabama, national champ: A 45-21 win over FCS GA Southern. It was a ten point game midway through the third quarter. Many Tiders consider this their best team.
2012 Alabama, national champ: no close calls or losses except for really, really good teams. (loss to top #5A&M, #12 LSU, #4 UGA, all final rankings)
2013 FSU, undefeated national champ: 48-34 win over 7-6 Boston College. Up 24-17 at half.
2014 OSU, national champ, lost to 7-6 Va Tech team 21-35. Needed double OT to beat a 7-6 Penn State team. Beat a 4-8 Indy team by 15 and a 5-7 Michigan team by 14.
2015 Alabama, national champ, beat an 8-5 Arkansas team by 13 at home, beat a barely ranked 9-4 Tennessee team at home by 5, beat a 7-6 Auburn team by only two scores last game of the regular season.
2016 Clemson, national champ, beat 8-5 Auburn by six points, beat Sunbelt Troy State by six points, beat 7-6 NC state in OT, Lost to 8-5 Pitt,
2017 Alabama, national champ, beat 7-6 A&M by 8 points
2018 Clemson, undefeated national champ, beat 9-4 A&M team by two points. Really good team. Beat that incredible 2018 Bama team like a drum and only had one other game they struggled with and it was a very good team as well like A&M.
2019 LSU, as good as they were, beat 8-5 Texas team by only 7. Beat 9-4 Auburn team by 3.
2020 Bama, undefeated national champ. beat 5-5 Ole Miss by 15 and was closer than that most of the way.
2021 UGA, no games within 20 to unranked. One loss to eventual no. 2 team. One close game to eventual no. 14.
Point being most teams on this list are not like our 2021 team. They are like our team this year. And actually, many of them have had much closer calls than our team this year has had.
Missouri, no doubt that we were sweating it. But we got the lead, got them off the field and ran the clock out. No praying we make or they miss a FG. No OT.
Kentucky- they never had the ball one time in the second half with a chance to take the lead in the game.
As far as today, I didn't take the time to look through halftime scores for these teams, but do remember that 2018 Bama team that lost to Clemson, but was really, really good was tied at the half vs. the Citadel in their cupcake game before facing Auburn.
It is hard to answer the bell every week. Incredibly hard to do it in an impressive way every week. This team looks very, very strong and has put out great football when people thought we'd be challenged. I expect them to play well from here on out.
