handsomedave39 | 7/21 10:58 AM
Didn't realize all those things.That's pretty amazing... | |
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~HIGHTide~ | 2/6 11:51 PM
National Records
* Alabama became the first team in major college football history to defeat the last three previous national champions in the same season (24-15 vs '07 champion LSU, 32-13 vs '08 & '06 champion Florida and 37-21 vs '05 champion Texas).
* Alabama became the first team in major college football history to defeat two straight opponents with at least a 12-0 record (defeated 12-0 Florida in SEC title game and 13-0 Texas in BCS title game).
* Alabama placed six players on the Associated Press All-American first team. That's the most ever selected from one team (previously five by Oklahoma in '87 & '03).
* Alabama defeated 10 bowl opponents in 2009. That's the most ever recorded in major college football history. | |
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~HIGHTide~ | 12/21 8:32 PM
Look, if anyone tries to give you crap about Alabama claiming 12 national titles, the reply should be...
The AP poll came out in 1936. The UPI (precursor to the Coaches Poll) debuted in 1950. We all agree they're legitimate, right? Well, Alabama has 7 national titles granted by those organizations: 1992, 1979, 1978, 1973, 1965, 1964 and 1961.
So, how do you fairly judge national champions before 1936? There are a lot of organizations of whom nobody's ever heard with varying degrees of credibility. The best thing I know to do is go with the team the most organizations named as national champion in any one year. Using that standard, we can claim the 1925 and 1926 national championships as well. That takes us to 9.
Now, the "questionable" ones would be 1930, 1934 and 1941. In 1930, we won the Southern Conference championship with a 10-0 record. We gave up only 13 points all year and beat previously unbeaten Washington State in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame also went 10-0 this year. At worst, both schools can claim a split national championship.
In 1934, Alabama again went 10-0, won the SEC championship and beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Minnesota went 8-0 and won the Big Ten. They did not play in a bowl game. At worst, again, both schools can claim a split national championship.
Add the 2 split national championships to the other 9, well, that's 11. The only one I can't defend is the 1941 championship claim. We went 9-2 with losses to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Minnesota again went 8-0, won the Big Ten and were named national champions by the AP. This title clearly belongs to them. However, considering the screwing we took in 1966 when Notre Dame and Michigan State tied yet both still finished ahead of undefeated and two-time defending national champion Alabama in the polls, I don't mind claiming one that might be a bit questionable as compensation.
#GET UP ON THAT HATERS# | |
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~HIGHTide~ | 12/20 5:07 PM
Greg McElroy flashed the sign on the podium in the middle of the Georgia Dome two weeks ago, and it almost got lost in all the flashbulbs.
The quarterback raised two fingers on each hand.
It was a tribute to Alabama’s 22 SEC championships.
McElroy is one of the smartest players in college football ? playbook-smart and textbook-smart ? but not even he understood the deeper meaning of that number.
It goes way beyond the jersey of Heisman winner Mark Ingram.
Do you know how many of the current players on Alabama’s roster have earned their undergraduate degrees?
That’s right.
Twenty-two.
Thirteen players played the regular season with degree in hand, and nine of their teammates joined them as college graduates last Saturday.
Do the math.
Alabama is No. 1 on the football field and in the classroom.
So perhaps the university’s decision to cancel three days of classes surrounding the BCS Championship Game isn’t a sign that the educational apocalypse is upon us.
It’s important to educate the uneducated. On this subject, some otherwise educated individuals ? most notably Fanhouse.com columnist Clay Travis ? have offered some howlingly uneducated opinions.
Travis wrote this: "It’s clear the state of Alabama doesn’t value education as highly as it does winning football games."
But wouldn’t a better barometer of the university’s commitment to higher education, as well as higher rankings, be the way it educates its football players?
Alabama led the nation with 13 graduates on its roster during the 2009 regular season. Boston College and Virginia Tech were next with 10 each. Auburn was tied for fifth with eight.
Alabama was the only team among the top 12 on that list to reach a BCS bowl game.
Go inside the numbers, and they look even more impressive because they’re not overpopulated with scholarship players who stick around because they’re scholars, not players.
McElroy graduated magna cum laude with a GPA of 3.86, and he did it in three years ? while trying to learn the offensive schemes of three different coordinators: Dave Rader, Major Applewhite and Jim McElwain.
Other starters who earned their degrees before the season began: Linebacker Eryk Anders, tackle Drew Davis, punter P.J. Fitzgerald, guard Mike Johnson, linebacker Cory Reamer, snapper Brian Selman and defensive end Lorenzo Washington.
The nine players who finished their degrees this fall include these starters: Cornerback Javier Arenas, defensive end Brandon Deaderick, fullback Baron Huber, cornerback Marquis Johnson, tight end Colin Peek and kicker Leigh Tiffin.
Add it up, and 14 Alabama players who could start in the BCS Championship Game will be college graduates. And it’s only a matter of time before other starters, like unanimous All-Americans Ingram and Rolando McClain, get their degrees.
Want more?
Alabama set a national record with six first-team AP All-Americans. Three of them ? Arenas, Johnson and Tiffin ? are graduates.
It makes headlines to scoff at the three days of school Alabama has canceled because of the championship game.
The real story is all the classes the Alabama football players have passed while building a championship team. | |
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~HIGHTide~ | 12/13 12:28 AM
Exactly: He wasn't the workhorse that Gerhart was. 200 more yards and 11 more touchdowns speaks for itself.
They had almost the exact same yards from scrimmage. Ingram had more receiving yards and 3 more TD's. The only difference was the TD's. Ingram gave up 6 to Richardson and 3 to Upchurch. Gerhart got all the goaline carries for Stanford. I think 14 of Gerharts 26 TD's came from inside the 3 yard line. Ingram covered 50 more yards on his 15 TD runs than Gerhart did on all 26 of his.
MARK INGRAM
ROLLLL TIDE BROTHER### | |
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