No Looking Back for the Alabama Crimson Tide

It's staggering to think of what Alabama has accomplished in the last two years.  Even during Bear Bryant's career, a year in which you beat LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee is a great year. 

A year you do that and go undefeated in the regular season, well that's just spectacular.

Doing it two years in a row, that's just sick!

Historically, accomplishments like these would put you in many a national championship games, but things have changed.

The SEC was always strong, but in the last four or five years, it has pulled away from the pack. The SEC championship has served as a semifinal playoff game and the winner has dominated in the national championship game.  Even a semi-successful multiple-loss LSU squad, brought home the big trophy two years ago.

Knowing that fact, does nothing to help the Crimson Tide. The bridge behind them is burned. The defending champion is in front of them and  they have to go through the Florida Gators and win the SEC to punch their ticket to Pasadena, or go home with nothing. 

Winning 12 games is an amazing accomplishment and at some schools, they would be erecting statues and holding parades, but at Alabama, success is measured only in championships. Not the fake kind by homer web sites and local newspapers, but the real kind that they talk about on ESPN.  

While national championships are the ultimate goal, even SEC championships are huge.  Lately, you can't have one without winning both.

It reminds me of some of the Olympic teams from Russia back in the 1980s.  You wondered if they didn't win what would happen to them when they got home.

I'm sure in the grand scheme of things, the last two years will be looked upon favorably. And certainly for the teams Alabama has beaten, the pain is real.  Entire coaching staffs have lost their jobs due to their inability to hang with the Crimson Tide on the field.

There have been many times that Rammer Jammer has been played and  heard; it's been a wonderful time.

But Alabama cannot escape their destiny. They must win Saturday or be remembered as a great team that could not win a championship. There are 100 or more other teams that would gladly trade places with Alabama today.

On the other side of the field, stands Florida. A team with virtually nothing to prove.  They have a quarterback who is widely considered the single greatest college football player of all time and Florida players have SEC and National Championships in the bag. 

All they have to play for is just one more championship to add a gigantic exclamation point to their dominance of this era. 

Will the disparity of motivation make a difference?  Historically, emotion and motivation evaporate after the first quarter and in the end, preparation and talent usually wins out. 

Alabama stands ready to grasp history and make a place for themselves that no one will ever forget and can never take away.  It was a long road to get here and most programs will never make it this far. I don't know the outcome, but I'm certain Alabama will leave it all on the field at the Georgia dome. 

May the Tide Roll in Atlanta.