Why Alabama Can Repeat As National Champions

Tomorrow is the start SEC Media Day and the build up has already started. The biggest question coming into the 2010 season is can Alabama repeat as national champions.

Now, according to most experts and a lot of opposing team’s fans, there is no way Alabama will repeat as national champs, but didn’t we say the same thing about Florida a few years ago?

There was no way the Gators could win the national championship again. They have this, this, and this wrong and yet, they were champions again in 2008. Fans forgot that just like Florida, Alabama has their best player returning on offense who also happens to be the current Heisman Trophy winner too. Just like Florida, Alabama still has one of the best coaching staffs in the country. Just like Florida, the schedule works in their favor.

So, why can’t Alabama repeat? The real question in the SEC should be who is better than Alabama? The Crimson Tide has most of their offensive weapons returning and according to some, will be more dangerous on offense this year.

Some will quickly point out the number of defensive players Alabama lost, which would be a concern if it wasn’t for the fact that Nick Saban is known to rotate his starters so they would get more experience.

Well, what about the schedule you say? Well most of Alabama’s “tough” games, including Florida and Auburn, will be in Tuscaloosa this year. And keep in mind that both teams will be coming into Bryant Denny with new starting quarterbacks.

As far as the road games go, the main concern for most Alabama fans are Arkansas, LSU, and South Carolina; three teams the Tide handled pretty well last year; teams that have probably more questions than the Tide coming into this year.

Arkansas, of course, has Ryan Mallett, but Mallett has yet to get on the practice field this season because of a broken foot and some are questioning whether or not he’ll be ready to go by the fall and if he is, how will that foot affect his play.

LSU still has questions on offense as well. Although, quarterback Jordan Jefferson didn’t have a bad season, he wasn’t exactly great either. Part of the problem was the lack of a running game from the Tigers which is very unusual for them.

South Carolina’s main issue is still going to be Stephen Garcia and how consistent or inconsistent he is going to be this season. But anything can happen in the SEC and if Alabama loses, it wouldn’t shock many if it were to one of the teams mentioned above.

The thing is, Alabama is better than these teams and it’s going to be hard to dethrone the national champs, although, some say it will be near “impossible” to go undefeated for a third straight year, but as we learned last year with this team, anything is possible.

Read more of Stacey’s stories and thoughts on College Football Confidential: http://collegefootballconfidential.sports.officelive.com/default.aspx