Alabama Football: Will The Scheduling This Year Make The Difference In Results?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Last year Alabama had three big things against them. The first was replacing so many defensive starters, the second was the daunting task of trying win it all again with the championship target on your back and the third was the schedule.

With almost all of the starters returning on defense, you can eliminate reason number one. With the championship target off their back, you can eliminate number two.

That just leaves the schedule.

Last year Alabama had to play a record number of teams just coming off their bye week. They played a tough game at Arkansas, who had a breakthrough year for them before losing a close game to Ohio State in the bowl game. 

They lost their first game in a tough road loss to the eventual winner of the SEC East, South Carolina, and then again in a tough road loss to the SEC West runner up LSU, before losing a close heart breaker to the eventual champions, the Auburn Tigers.

This year's schedule looks much more favorable.

2011 ALABAMA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (Bold type is a home game)

Date	Opponent	Site
Sept. 3	Kent State	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Sept. 10	at Penn State	State College, Pa.
Sept. 17	North Texas	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Sept. 24	*Arkansas	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Oct. 1	*at Florida	Gainesville, Fla.
Oct. 8	*Vanderbilt	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Oct. 15	*at Mississippi	Oxford, Miss.
Oct. 22	*Tennessee	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Oct. 29	Open Date
Nov. 5	*LSU	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Nov. 12	*at Mississippi State	Starkville, Miss.
Nov. 19	Georgia Southern	Bryant-Denny Stadium
Nov. 26	*at Auburn	Auburn, Ala.

Facing Arkansas at home will be an advantage, Florida is still in rebuilding mode and the Tide severely spanked them last year and they have LSU at home this year and that could be a huge difference in this game.

That leaves Auburn on the road, but with the Tigers being so gutted after graduation and early departures, that leaves Alabama with about as favorable a schedule as they could hope for. In addition, they only face three teams coming off bye weeks this year.

This year Alabama has no excuses that they could have used last year. The schedule and roster are clearly in their favor. The target of defending champion is off their back. The only thing that can beat Alabama this year may be themselves.

Time will tell if that happens.