Tony's Take: The current gap between Alabama and rest of SEC is irrelevant
Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe now! | Recruiting Board | Talk of Champions
The question was asked ad nauseam in some form or another during SEC Media Days in Hoover Ala., last week.
How far is the gap between Alabama and the rest of the SEC? Is there a team that can realistically put an end to the Crimson Tide's 17-game conference winning streak? If so, which one, and what does a team have to do to be on the winning side of a handshake with Nick Saban at the end of a game?
Related: SEC Media Days Coverage | Alabama predicted to win SEC title by media
Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick said it best when informed of the question posed by reporters to other SEC coaches.
“If you didn’t beat Bama, I don’t know how you answer a question of how to beat Bama,” Fitzpatrick said with a sly smirk.
Sure, there are ways to measure how far the rest of the SEC is behind Alabama. The Tide was predicted to win a fourth straight conference title by the media as the preseason SEC Media Days poll was released Friday. Alabama was the No. 1 team on 217 ballots. The next highest vote getter was Auburn with 11.
If preseason predictions aren't your thing, how about on the field where the Tide has made a mockery of the SEC Championship Game the past three seasons? In its two games against Florida and one against Missouri, Alabama outscored its SEC opponents a combined 125-44 in what is supposed to be the conference's premier game.
Of course, the SEC East has been the far inferior division in recent years. That being said, Alabama has held the same dominance across the conference as a whole. The Tide outscored SEC opponents 358-134 last season, an average margin of 40-15 per game.
As in previous years, Ole Miss came closest to dethroning the Tide, falling 48-43 in Oxford, Miss. The Rebels were the only conference opponent to keep Alabama within a single-digit difference. LSU was the next closest, losing 10-0 to the Tide in Baton Rouge, La.
Ole Miss is predicted to finish last in the SEC West amid a series of NCAA violations. LSU returns Danny Etling at quarterback, the same Etling who was replicated by 31-year-old John Parker Wilson on Alabama's scout team last season. While both teams are capable of beating the Tide, a victory by either would certainly be an upset this year.
That brings us back to our original inquiry. Just how big of a gap, or perhaps an abyss, separates Alabama from the rest of the SEC.
Here’s a better question. Does the current distance even matter?
Even if an SEC team was to emerge to where Alabama was at last season, it’d be reaching a level the Tide views as obsolete. What good is reaching the top when the mountain keeps growing?
Saban noted that he didn’t want to “waste a failure” when referring to last season. Fitzpatrick used the same word, “failure,” to describe a 14-1 year which finished one second away from a national title.
The fact that teams are aspiring to be where Alabama is now only highlights the disparity within the conference. Alabama obviously isn’t satisfied where it is. If a team is going to usurp the SEC crown this season, the question is not if they can catch up to where the Tide is but rather will they be able to reach the level Alabama plans to be at the end of the season.
Right now, that seems a long way off.
