Alabama Crimson Tide Football: Is It Too Soon To Talk Dynasty?

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fla.) Starting in 2008, Alabama finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 mark. In 2009, it not only equalled that mark, but finished 14-0 and won a 13th National Championship. Now Alabama is poised to do that once again. 

Is it time to start saying dynasty?

Though the SEC may have a secure grip on BCS games lately, no team in 20 years has stepped up to claim "Dynasty" status. Florida won two of three championships and had several fine seasons strung together, but fell just short of securing a dynasty.

Though they are still one of the top schools in the nation, the beating Alabama put on Florida last year demonstrated that there's only room for one top team in the SEC, and clearly that team is Alabama.

Tim Tebow's tears were only the most visible sign of the disappointment the entire Gator nation must have felt at seeing just how far and fast the pendulum has swung.

But should this be a sobering omen for Alabama fans? No one stays at the top for long.

Florida's two BCS Championships make them a clear winner for team of the decade for the 2000-2009 years, with Alabama and LSU being honorable mentions.

But Alabama is certainly poised to be the team of this next decade as the talent pool in Tuscaloosa just gets deeper with each passing year and 12-0 seasons seem to be the norm instead of the exception.

Nick Saban would rankle at the notion of his team being called a dynasty. Instead he focuses on each individual team as a separate and distinct entity.

"This team has not won a game yet", Saban said on the subject of defending a national championship. "The team that won the last one is part of history and this is a new team."

While most of us realize this is coach talk intended to stop heads from swelling, there is much truth to his statement. Florida was not the same team without Percy Harvin, despite most of its players returning.

Could some of Alabama's missing pieces also be that important?

Only time will tell if Alabama has indeed begun to enter the realm of teams that earned the "Dynasty" moniker, but it is clear the first steps have been taken.