About Face: Alabama Likely to Turn It Around Fast...Again.

The midterm grades are in, and as it goes with Nick Saban’s “24 Hour Rule,” it’s time to move on and think about where this crazy train that is college football will take us and the possibilities that lay therein.  

The Tide’s record at this point last season (4-2) had driven expectations high for a memorable first year for Coach Saban (losses to Georgia and Florida State were by a mere 10 points combined).  Of course, the 2007 season ended up about as memorable as a $300 bar tab—surprising and oh so painful. 

Despite the sting of the Tide's second-half slide last season, Bama fans have much to be excited about midway through 2008...maybe even more than they know.

Of course, the team’s performance, attitude, physicality, and effective coaching, which have led to a 6-0 start, are each great reasons for enthusiasm.  It doesn’t hurt that almost all of the Tide’s key players are healthy. 

But consider one more reason for optimism that you might have been left out of the loop on (except for you all-knowing Crimson Tiders who can play with the best of the statistical gurus). 

In its storied past, the Crimson Tide has pulled an “about face” a number of times, meaning the team has gone from a seven wins or fewer season to command 10 or more wins the following year.

Year      W-L

1951      5-6

1952      10-2                    

1970      6-5

1971      11-1                    

1998      7-5

1999      10-3                    

2001      7-5

2002      10-3                    

2004      6-6

2005      10-2                    

Though the numbers don't promise a 10-win season for Bama this year, they do show one thing: The Tide has a knack for slingshotting back. 

Could ‘08 be the sixth time for Bama after going 7-6 last year?  The odds are good, though Nick Saban wouldn’t pay any attention to the odds.  In fact, Nick Saban would only pick up a record book if he could find a way to use it as a prop in one of the Tide’s hard-nosed, gut-wrenching practices.

That, Tide fans, is one of many reasons the odds are, in fact, good.