7 Reasons Alabama Is Where It Should Be in the Coaches' Poll

There are lots of reasons why Alabama should be rated among the top two teams in the nation.

But what teams should be in the top seven?

Let's examine what those may be and in the comment section, you can let us know if you agree or disagree.

Several teams may be worthy of consideration in the top two spots in this poll, but only two deserve it.

Here are the top seven reasons why Alabama deserves one of the top two spots.

No. 7: A Defensive Line That May Be One of the Best in College Football

Not only does Alabama have what may be the best defensive line in college football, they could possibly also have to the best second team defensive line in all of college football too.

Nick Saban won't hesitate to rotate players in and out on this defensive line because in some cases, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the first and second teams on this line.

Though Jesse Williams and other won't be starters, they could very well make the difference in this team winning and losing a championship this season.

No. 6: The Secondary, Last Year's Liability, Is One of the Nation's Best

Last year, the defensive secondary missed being in the right places at all the wrong times when Saban would call some of his zone coverage packages.

That was all due to a new group that hadn't played together and some who were first-year starters.

This year sees that entire group return, all having been burned from last year's mistakes. It helped score a big win over Michigan State and gained the knowledge of what they can do when they all work as they should.

Look for this group to be among the nation's leader in pass defense this year.

No. 5: The Bench Is Maybe the Best in College Football

Look at the talent on the sideline of the Alabama team. Count the collective stars of those young men yearning to get into the fray and you will see the nation's most talented collective bunch of bench warmers.

That's just what happens when you have four back-to-back top recruiting classes in the nation.

But that depth will allow Alabama to escape an injury bug, relieve tired starters, and continue to reload and not regroup at the end of the season.

With Alabama players getting into the NFL with only a year or two of playing time, these players are content to wait their turn and finally be a star on a team that is always going to be in national title contention talk.

This is one bad bench.

Tradition: When Alabama Has a Good Team, They Get Respect Based on Tradition

Let's face it, Alabama has tradition. And when they have a good team, they get the kind of respect that USC, Notre Dame and Oklahoma get when they have good teams.

But it is a tradition that is both earned over the years and displayed weekly by the team themselves. It was once said that "Those Crimson jerseys on their backs give them a seven-point advantage, they believe they'll win just because of those."

Tradition worked in their favor at times too. A Tennessee player was remarking in a loss to Alabama, we had the lead going into the fourth, but you just knew they were coming back. We were just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

And to show how much it speaks to expectations at the Capstone these days, last season's 10-win season was considered a bad year and 'Bama rarely has two bad years in a row.

Maybe the Only Reason They're Not No. 1 and Are No. 2

If Alabama were returning a known product at quarterback this season, they would have nabbed the No. 1 spot overall.

But the reason they're still No. 2 is voters saw how two years ago, Alabama won it all with a rookie quarterback and they know they can do it again if everything falls into place.

Alabama is fortunate to have two quarterbacks who could accomplish that mission and by midseason, they may have convinced enough voters to put them on top.

Desire, Drive and Heart They Have It Back This Year

A.J. McCarron, who may very well be the starting quarterback on September 3rd, said that last season the team "just didn't have the same mental attitude as they did the year before" when the Tide won the national championship.

He said you could tell in the offseason and early season the drive and desire just wasn't there like it used to be.

But this year McCarron said, "We have worked harder than last year, we're doing all the little things that maybe we didn't last year, and this year we feel like we have something to prove."

As for heart, that just doesn't mean going all out on every play and not holding anything back, although they are doing just that. Their heart still goes out to this community, some of it still shattered by the storm that raged through the heart of the area.

"We always want to win for the team, the coaches and the fans," said running back Trent Richardson, "But this year we also want to win for the community here in hopes it will lift their spirits."

No. 1: Nick Saban

There is only one reason that all the previous six things are in place. The man that is Nick Saban made them all happen.

With Nick Saban at the helm of the Alabama ship, there is nothing but blue skies ahead.

The fact that a 10-win season was a miserable failure for the Alabama fans shows just how much the fans have come to expect with Saban as the head coach.

He's so much more than just a great coach; he sets the standards by which other coaches are judged in recruiting, coaching up players to their greatest potential and bringing home championships.

Make no mistake about it, this is Nick Saban's team and he is the center cog in the wheel that makes this Tide roll.

(Larry Burton is a syndicated writer whose work appears online and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.)