Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
Alabama's recent appearances in the SEC Championship Game - the back-to-back battles with the Urban Meyer/Tim Tebow teams at Florida, the de facto BCS semifinal game against a fine Georgia team - have been the talk of the town.
By comparison, Alabama-Missouri has been a whisper. The discussion about the game has been drowned out by all sorts of other conversations.
There is the aftermath of the Iron Bowl, which always exists during this week but is stronger this year because it was an intriguing game and because the upcoming contest hasn't immediately drawn the attention away from it.
There is the interminable speculation about the College Football Playoff Rankings.
There have been important topics like the fate of UAB football (which is worthy of discussion) and unimportant ones like "Dixieland Delight," which should be addressed only with a reminder that the best way to assure that college students chant vile and objectionable phrases is to tell them that they aren't allowed to chant vile and objectionable phrases.
But Missouri? That's well down the list of hot conversation starters. There are several reasons.
Without dredging up the lame "do they belong in the SEC?" arguments (of course they do), the Tigers aren't a familiar foe.
Alabama has a little history with Mizzou, including losses in 1968 and 1975 that Crimson Tide archivists might be wise to recall.
Also, they aren't as much of a television fixture as Alabama (No one is, except Lily the AT&T girl). Then there is the Tigers' item of dirty scheduling laundry - that non-conference loss to Indiana. It was a bad day - but it shouldn't be the sole Saturday that defines Mizzou.
Despite the SEC Championship Game not being a trending topic - at least not yet- Alabama head coach Nick Saban was insistent that his Crimson Tide team is not drifting aimlessly into a so-called trap game.
"The players are working hard," Saban said on Wednesday at his final press conference before leaving for Atlanta. "The big thing we are trying to get the players to understand is that the past is the past. They've created a great opportunity for themselves. It's a new season.
"We realize the magnitude of the game. I've gotten that question every week since we started the SEC schedule and the answer is always the same."
Practice observers have hinted that Alabama is "dialed in" this week, which is critical.
The Crimson Tide has had a remarkable 11-1 year, but when it hasn't been sharply focused, UA has played some fairly average football.
A slow start against Missouri means having to come back against one of the SEC's better defenses, and an offense that can take time off the clock.
The names - quarterback Maty Mauk, running back Russell Hansbrough, wide receiver Bud Sasser - aren't college football household names like Sims and Yeldon and Cooper.
But just because Missouri has quietly reached its second straight SEC Championship Game, that doesn't mean they don't belong.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1711811
TideSports.com Columnist
Alabama's recent appearances in the SEC Championship Game - the back-to-back battles with the Urban Meyer/Tim Tebow teams at Florida, the de facto BCS semifinal game against a fine Georgia team - have been the talk of the town.
By comparison, Alabama-Missouri has been a whisper. The discussion about the game has been drowned out by all sorts of other conversations.
There is the aftermath of the Iron Bowl, which always exists during this week but is stronger this year because it was an intriguing game and because the upcoming contest hasn't immediately drawn the attention away from it.
There is the interminable speculation about the College Football Playoff Rankings.
There have been important topics like the fate of UAB football (which is worthy of discussion) and unimportant ones like "Dixieland Delight," which should be addressed only with a reminder that the best way to assure that college students chant vile and objectionable phrases is to tell them that they aren't allowed to chant vile and objectionable phrases.
But Missouri? That's well down the list of hot conversation starters. There are several reasons.
Without dredging up the lame "do they belong in the SEC?" arguments (of course they do), the Tigers aren't a familiar foe.
Alabama has a little history with Mizzou, including losses in 1968 and 1975 that Crimson Tide archivists might be wise to recall.
Also, they aren't as much of a television fixture as Alabama (No one is, except Lily the AT&T girl). Then there is the Tigers' item of dirty scheduling laundry - that non-conference loss to Indiana. It was a bad day - but it shouldn't be the sole Saturday that defines Mizzou.
Despite the SEC Championship Game not being a trending topic - at least not yet- Alabama head coach Nick Saban was insistent that his Crimson Tide team is not drifting aimlessly into a so-called trap game.
"The players are working hard," Saban said on Wednesday at his final press conference before leaving for Atlanta. "The big thing we are trying to get the players to understand is that the past is the past. They've created a great opportunity for themselves. It's a new season.
"We realize the magnitude of the game. I've gotten that question every week since we started the SEC schedule and the answer is always the same."
Practice observers have hinted that Alabama is "dialed in" this week, which is critical.
The Crimson Tide has had a remarkable 11-1 year, but when it hasn't been sharply focused, UA has played some fairly average football.
A slow start against Missouri means having to come back against one of the SEC's better defenses, and an offense that can take time off the clock.
The names - quarterback Maty Mauk, running back Russell Hansbrough, wide receiver Bud Sasser - aren't college football household names like Sims and Yeldon and Cooper.
But just because Missouri has quietly reached its second straight SEC Championship Game, that doesn't mean they don't belong.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1711811
