Ole Miss Football: Grove Grinder, Another Championship For Saban
While Ole Miss football was sitting at home during the postseason the Alabama Crimson Tide was finding its way back into the college football playoff and yet another championship.
It’s been tough for Ole Miss football fans this postseason. We’ve had to watch our Rebels sit at home as part of a self-imposed postseason ban and watch other teams. The past few weeks have been interesting and of course there were a few surprises in the bowl games and the playoffs.
This bowl season we watched a team who was ruled ineligible to play still play their bowl game. Florida State was the responsible party in that farce. We also watched a shady playoff selection committee pick a team which finished 3rd in the SEC to play in the college football playoffs. Yes this was indeed an interesting postseason.
Of course, by now we all know coach Nick Saban won his 5th natty at Alabama. You can probably recall he also won a natty at LSU. Back to that later. Of course, as much as I loathe Bama I still want to congratulate them. Not for their natty win but the firm grip Nick Saban and Alabama has on the NCAA and the college football playoff committee. The NCAA doesn’t run college football, however Saban and Alabama do and they’ve reaped huge benefits from it.
Saban’s Dynasty
Ole Miss Rebels Football
First, let me say Nick Saban is a great coach. There is no doubt he is the best active coach in college football and is certainly mixed in the conversation for GOAT. Monday night Saban’s decision to bench starter Jalen Hurts for his backup Tua Tagovailoa was an example of his ability to make great decisions.
Saban knew Tagovailoa was ready to go or he would never have made that call. Of course, had the Tide lost the game Saban would be catching hell for taking Hurts out of the game and we would be talking about the Georgia Bulldogs instead. However, that isn’t the case.
No the Alabama Crimson Tide are college football’s national champions and they got this one because of Saban more than any other they’ve won since he’s been in Tinseltown. Had it not been for a tough coaching decision we might be wondering how much longer Saban would stay at Bama. Of course, we’d all be saying the dynasty is dead. However, the dynasty rolls on.
What It Means For The SEC
It means the same thing Alabama football has always meant. Utter and total dominance in college football is what Bama stands for. Of course, with the win Monday Saban will undoubtedly have an excellent recruiting class stealing the best players from neighboring states. The Tide will still be the team to beat in the SEC and especially the SEC West.
Of course, Saban can be beaten but it takes an offensive genius and strong defense to do it. We watched Gus Malzhan and Auburn take a win from the Tide in the Iron Bowl this season. We’ve seen Dabo Swinney and Clemson do it. We’ve even seen our own Ole Miss Rebels beat Bama in back-to-back seasons under former coach Hugh Freeze. So it can be done, but will it be done?
There is no way to really say how much longer Nick Saban will be at Alabama. There is also no way of knowing which teams will stand up against the Tide next season. However, as long as Saban is at the helm of the Tide they will continue to dominate college football. As much as we loathe the Crimson Tide they have set the bar quite high for college football.
Eventually there will be somebody who challenges them at the bar however they had better hurry. The longer Alabama continues to out-recruit, out-coach and out-play everybody else the harder it will be for the Georgias and Clemsons of college football. Also, the longer Nick Saban exercises ‘Bama Privilege’ and succeeds the harder it will be for the Ohio States of college football as well. Hotty Toddy!