Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
"The fun is in the winning."
"I'd take a one-point win and be happy."
We've all heard those cliches from college football coaches. As much as some people don't like to believe them in the modern world, there is some truth to them.
Ultimately, winning is what matters. And it should be fun for players, who put in a lot of long, hard hours for that very purpose. When it is a win, on the road, against an SEC West opponent, that is all the more reason to feel good about it. But when someone mentioned that Alabama coaches and players were "upbeat" in their locker room in Fayetteville, many Crimson Tide fans were indignant, even horrified.
Did Alabama play its best? No. Is there room for improvement? Yes, a vast prairie of room spreading to the far horizon. But should the Alabama players, after three hours of slogging it out against a physical, tough opponent have been suicidal? Apologetic? Angry? Being "upbeat" in a locker room is a far cry from not wanting to get better, but that's what a week of practice is for.
The college football world has changed. So has the SEC. A one-point win isn't necessarily viewed in the same way as it was in the 1950s, when Alabama and Georgia Tech could play 7-6 games for years on end, with the winners just happy to survive.
Now, there is a far more prevalent awareness among fans of a betting line, which, fairly or not, colors perception. Furthermore, there is endless discussion about the college playoff selection process.
Technically, Playoff Selection Committee members aren't supposed to consider margin of victory (as a safeguard against encouraging teams from running up scores against hapless opponents), but they probably will. Certainly, they will be comparing scores to see how playoff contenders fare against common opponents. At least one assumes they will, although the latest indications from the train wreck are that no one knows what the committee will do.
Now, Alabama may have to get better in order to fit the description of "playoff contender," but they do control their own destiny at this point.
As noted, though, the SEC has changed, too. If I can't convince you, take a peek at the AP Top 25 Poll with Mississippi State at No. 1 and Ole Miss at No. 3 and that should do the trick. Arkansas isn't in such a lofty position but is very much improved and is going to upend someone in the SEC before long. Nick Saban made this very point last week.
"When you've beaten a team for a number of years in a row, people think you are automatically going to beat them again," he said. "That's not the way it works."
That isn't an easy mental adjustment for people to make. Change isn't welcome when it is a change from something comfortable, like easy wins at Arkansas and the Mississippi schools on an annual basis.
Add in the fact the Crimson Tide has some obvious limitations, and it makes for impatience - even with winning, where the fun is supposed to be.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1691981
TideSports.com Columnist
"The fun is in the winning."
"I'd take a one-point win and be happy."
We've all heard those cliches from college football coaches. As much as some people don't like to believe them in the modern world, there is some truth to them.
Ultimately, winning is what matters. And it should be fun for players, who put in a lot of long, hard hours for that very purpose. When it is a win, on the road, against an SEC West opponent, that is all the more reason to feel good about it. But when someone mentioned that Alabama coaches and players were "upbeat" in their locker room in Fayetteville, many Crimson Tide fans were indignant, even horrified.
Did Alabama play its best? No. Is there room for improvement? Yes, a vast prairie of room spreading to the far horizon. But should the Alabama players, after three hours of slogging it out against a physical, tough opponent have been suicidal? Apologetic? Angry? Being "upbeat" in a locker room is a far cry from not wanting to get better, but that's what a week of practice is for.
The college football world has changed. So has the SEC. A one-point win isn't necessarily viewed in the same way as it was in the 1950s, when Alabama and Georgia Tech could play 7-6 games for years on end, with the winners just happy to survive.
Now, there is a far more prevalent awareness among fans of a betting line, which, fairly or not, colors perception. Furthermore, there is endless discussion about the college playoff selection process.
Technically, Playoff Selection Committee members aren't supposed to consider margin of victory (as a safeguard against encouraging teams from running up scores against hapless opponents), but they probably will. Certainly, they will be comparing scores to see how playoff contenders fare against common opponents. At least one assumes they will, although the latest indications from the train wreck are that no one knows what the committee will do.
Now, Alabama may have to get better in order to fit the description of "playoff contender," but they do control their own destiny at this point.
As noted, though, the SEC has changed, too. If I can't convince you, take a peek at the AP Top 25 Poll with Mississippi State at No. 1 and Ole Miss at No. 3 and that should do the trick. Arkansas isn't in such a lofty position but is very much improved and is going to upend someone in the SEC before long. Nick Saban made this very point last week.
"When you've beaten a team for a number of years in a row, people think you are automatically going to beat them again," he said. "That's not the way it works."
That isn't an easy mental adjustment for people to make. Change isn't welcome when it is a change from something comfortable, like easy wins at Arkansas and the Mississippi schools on an annual basis.
Add in the fact the Crimson Tide has some obvious limitations, and it makes for impatience - even with winning, where the fun is supposed to be.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1691981
