Every Monday right here you can read Tide Takes, where we’ll get into a different topic on the Crimson Tide, break down the previous game, preview the upcoming game, and everything in between.
In this week’s edition, Alabama has taken down Georgia. won the SEC Championship, and is back in the College Football Playoff. After there were real questions being asked about this team and this program early in the season, the Crimson Tide answered all of them and are rewarded in the end with a chance to compete for a 19th national championship:
I’ll be the first to admit it. I was wrong. I wasn’t the only one, but after Alabama’s loss to Texas, I wrote a column questioning whether or not Alabama’s dynasty was dead. In hindsight, it feels extremely foolish. But at the time, it didn’t seem so foolish at all.
Alabama had been pretty much dominated at home against a non-conference opponent for its earliest loss in a season since 2003. Dominated on both fronts, dominated at the point of attack, and most importantly, dominated at the quarterback position.
Jalen Milroe looked completely lost at times in the Texas game. He threw two back-breaking interceptions that ultimately were the difference maker in what was a 34-24 loss that nearly was the deciding factor in keeping Alabama out of the playoff.
Of course, back in early September after the Texas game and after the following week against South Florida where Milroe was benched, not a whole lot of people were even thinking about the CFP for Alabama. The thought was “how many games is this team going to lose?”
Alabama and its quarterback answered these questions with more improvement over the course of a season than any Nick Saban coached team has shown in his entire time at Alabama.
And Saturday night in Atlanta was the culmination of that improvement. The final score was 27-24, but the Crimson Tide bullied the 2x defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs all night on both sides of the ball and proved unequivocally that they are among the best four teams in the nation.
Luckily for Alabama, the committee saw it that way as well.
Now, the Crimson Tide have a chance to compete for yet another national championship. Nobody is questioning whether or not the dynasty is dead, nobody is questioning whether this team is capable of getting it done, and I’d venture to guess that not many are going to pick against the Tide being the last team standing when it’s all said and done.
No matter what happens in the College Football Playoff, it’s safe to say:
The Dynasty is alive as ever.
