Will Alabama Be Back In 2010?

The 2009 College Football Season has ended. Once again, there was a consensus national champion. And once again that champion was from the South Eastern Conference (SEC).

Most of the national media and football gurus have proclaimed Alabama as the 2010 undisputed favorite. In 2009, Florida was proclaimed as the undisputed 2009 favorite.

No SEC team has repeated as conference champions in the last decade. While much was made of an undefeated season, there have been undefeated seasons in the last decade; however, no team in that period repeated as SEC Champions.

Will Alabama be the first to pull this off? I do not know. I predicted that Florida would not repeat at the end of the season last year. I think it will be even more difficult for Alabama to repeat this year.

To understand the logic behind this, one must understand the dynamics of the SEC. Five different teams have won the SEC Title in the last ten years. Every one of these teams is a traditional power: LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, and Alabama.

While Florida and Alabama are reloading for next season, LSU, Auburn and Georgia are all putting the final parts in place on the recruiting front. Tennessee fits in there as well, but they are a few years away.

Alabama plays most of their major rivals after coming off of a bye week next season. While most seemed to be underwhelmed by LSU this year, they will be strong. Georgia will be back to their regular ten win ways next season. Auburn is not losing much but gaining a lot.

Of the traditional SEC western powers, Alabama has the most difficult schedule. Auburn has a much more favorable schedule. LSU plays Alabama at home.

I do not have a prediction of the SEC for 2010 right now. I think any fan will agree, the road for Alabama to the SEC title will be much more difficult next year. If I had to guess right now, I would say four of the top five teams in the nation could be from the SEC next season.