The Tide will roll to another SEC title and appearance in the BCS title game in 2010 according to Al Dannity.
The schedule Penn State visits Tuscaloosa in what promises to be the highlight of the second weekend of College Football. SEC play begins with two huge games. First Alabama must travel to Arkansas to take on the most exciting offense in the conference. Then the Gators come to town in a re-match of last year’s SEC title game.
The Gamecocks of South Carolina welcome Nick Saban’s charges on October 9. The following week sees Ole Miss, with new quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, take on the Tide. The Third Saturday in October promises to be a relatively mild affair in 2010, with Tennessee in rebuilding mode, but Alabama’s other big rivalry game should be a much sterner test. Auburn played far better than anticipated in Gene Chizik’s first year as head coach so an Iron Bowl upset can’t be ruled out.
The players Saban’s first full recruiting class should hit its stride in 2010. The offense returns with Mark Ingram, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, and the excellent Trent Richardson as the perfect two-man tandem. Greg McElroy is expected to open up the passing game more in his senior year, meaning greater use of Julio Jones. In all, the Tide return 8 starters from last year’s BCS National Championship winning team.
The big concern is over the defense, which has only 2 returning starters from that unbeaten 2009 edition. College Football betting fans should follow the situation surrounding Marcel Dareus, a defensive end who had a tremendous game against Texas in last year’s BCS decider. Dareus has been caught up in a NCAA investigation involving sports agents. At the time of publication it was still unclear whether Dareus would be eligible for 2010.
The forecast It seems strange to be putting so much faith in Nick Saban’s recruits to simply slot in and replace the likes of Terrence Cody. This is a unique situation however as we have seen enough of these young talents coming off the bench to know the potential quality at Alabama’s disposal. The fact that they have yet to prove it conclusively on the field, unlike the #1 team, narrowly kept the Tide off top spot. The combination of talent on both sides of the ball gives me confidence that Alabama will have a chance to prove me wrong in January.
While the SEC promises to be strong yet again in 2010, most of the programs Alabama need to worry about are still a year away from challenging. This bodes well for a 12-0 season regular season, a second straight SEC title, and a crack at a second straight BCS title. Tomorrow we will reveal the one team to keep Alabama off the top of the pile.
