Alabama fans, hold off on title talk

Alabama fans, hold off on title talk

Alabama fans better hope one of the oldest clichés in college football doesn’t ring true this season. The hackneyed old line goes something like this: “Usually, you see the greatest improvement from the first week of the season to the second.”
If that’s the case, cancel the Orange Bowl reservations. Cancel the 13th national championship banner and Daniel A. Moore print of Julio Jones striking the Heisman pose.
Better yet, cancel the entire season.

Alabama fans probably should have seen this coming after one of the most magnificent victories in recent time. Most didn’t, though.
We all collectively drank the Kool-Aid (or is that Saban-Aide)? So it was hard to swallow Saturday night, seeing Alabama slumber through a 20-6 embarrassment, albeit a win over a 30-point underdog Tulane team.
So now what?
A week ago, many notable and highly respected experts such as Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com were predicting the Tide would return to the Georgia Dome on Dec. 6. Others said Alabama could easily win 10 games. Fans were going with even loftier predictions. It was difficult to disagree.

al.com
9/9/08