C&F's predictions for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Finish: SEC West Champion
General: In case you haven't caught this at some point this week, the only question for Alabama this year is the offense. The defense is scary good and should keep most of these games from being too terribly interesting. I'm not sure that Alabama fans should go ahead and reserve hotel rooms in Atlanta for the first week of December, but I don't see anything except maybe Ole Miss to keep them from getting there. One thing: Yes, I called the SEC Championship Game along with the rest of the them. It's weak, in my mind, to follow the all-too-common practice of projecting them to win the West and then not taking the next logical step of calling how that game will happen. Is it too early to do so? No more than it's too early to be calling the Iron Bowl the week before.
More specific: Alabama will go undefeated again ... in the SEC. I don't see anyone in today's college football going 24-0, but even so, Virginia Tech is a tough first draw for an inexperienced offense. No doubt at Ole Miss is the most challenging game in the regular season. Apologies to Kentucky -- I've said before that I don't predict any team except maybe Mississippi State against maybe Florida as a locked-in "win," but I did just that to UK earlier this year. That said, I think the Tide is likely to handle the 'Cats just fine.
Game-specific:
9.5 :: vs. Virginia Tech (Atlanta) :: POSSIBLE LOSS
9.12 :: vs. Florida International :: WIN
9.19 :: vs. North Texas :: WIN
9.26 :: vs. Arkansas :: PROBABLE WIN
10.3 :: at Kentucky :: WIN
10.10 :: at Ole Miss :: POSSIBLE WIN
10.17 :: vs. South Carolina :: LIKELY WIN
10.24 :: vs. Tennessee :: LIKELY WIN
11.7 :: vs. LSU :: POSSIBLE WIN
11.14 :: at Mississippi State :: LIKELY WIN
11.21 :: vs. Chattanooga :: WIN
11.27 :: IRON BOWL: at Auburn (Friday) :: LIKELY WIN
12.5 :: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: vs. Florida (Atlanta) :: PROBABLE LOSS
Final record (pre-SEC Championship Game): 11-1, 8-0 SEC
MONDAY: Alabama Aims for Something Special
TUESDAY: Tuscaloosa Nights (and Days); Nick Saban Runs for Congress
WEDNESDAY: How About That Defense? We Also Have to Play Offense?
TODAY: Predictions
EARLIER TODAY: Feedback and Conclusions