Alabama Crimson Tide: Can Nick Saban break that three year omen?
The Alabama Crimson Tide football team will be on a mission to revenge their loss against the Clemson Tigers in the BCS Championship Game. However, it may not be as simple as it seems for Nick Saban and his talented 2017 team. For all the praise, awards and titles that Saban has earned while at Alabama, it’s one thing he has failed to do. Go wire-to-wire. In the previous three seasons the Tide has been ranked No. 1 heading into the season they have failed to with a National Title. That’s astounding when you think about their success.
However, this is the year that changes.
The Alabama Crimson Tide will put another strong team on the field this year. While most programs are ranked off hope, Saban’s crew is ranked off respect. Jalen Hurts is back after an up and down Freshman season with hopes on improving his passing. 2016 was more of Hurts off left tackle, Hurts off right tackle and Hurts up the middle but early reports are that his passes look more crisp which makes Alabama that much more dangerous.
If the Tide’s defense can continue to put the team on their backs then that omen that many speak of for Saban will become a distant memory. Going undefeated in CFB is not easy, especially for a team like Bama. For one, there are not too many cupcake games on the schedule. Bama does not reside in the AAC. This is SEC country down south where you can easily find 6 of their teams ranked in the top 25.
Take into account that during a five-week stretch of games, Bama has to face Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tennessee and then finish that stretch against LSU. There are no breaks there. Does Saban really care about said omen? Probably not, as his goal is to be the last team standing in the middle of the confetti.
This is the omen Saban is trying to avoid.
In 2010, the Tide started No. 1 and finished No. 10. In 2013 they started No. 1 and finished No. 7. In 2016, they started No. 1 but finished No. 2. Now here we are again in 2017 with a No. 1 ranking and let’s see where the Tide ends up. Eventually, Saban will break this curse and 2017 looks to be as good a season to do it. #RollTide
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
