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Bama no. 2 in 2011 Preseason Polls

Seriously? Preseason polls in January? IMHO, #2 is just to hight of a ranking for Bama. New QB, etc. Bottom line as well, I don't care how much talent we have, if they don't play EVERY game like its their last we will have another 1-3 loss season. Leadership is what the 2011 team needs, we have the talent.

RTR!!!!
 
I don't see that remotely happening. Alabama, LSU, Ark, Auburn all in the top 6?? Can't happen. They would be beating each other, thus, probably all have maybe 2 losses. No way they end up in top 6 with that record. Texas at #31 and they have had top 2 or 3 recruiting classes since time began. So much for reloading.
 
J.E.B. Stuart said:
I don't see that remotely happening. Alabama, LSU, Ark, Auburn all in the top 6?? Can't happen. They would be beating each other, thus, probably all have maybe 2 losses. No way they end up in top 6 with that record. Texas at #31 and they have had top 2 or 3 recruiting classes since time began. So much for reloading.
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It depends on what your rankings are supposed to mean.
If you are ranking them on what you think the best teams are, sure you can put them all up there.
If you're trying to predict the finish a year from now, then of course you have to consider schedules.
 
Saban14 said:
That poll is based on no juniors leaving. With us losing McElroy, Ingram, Julio, Carpenter, Dareus, and Dial, we have a lot of question marks. I don't see us pre-season top 5 at the start of the season. As we learned this year, there are way too many unknowns. You can't judge a team strictly based on talent, and a lot of teams can underachieve. I think we have a firm foundation to be a contender, but we have no idea about team chemistry or how much improvement our guys will make in the off-season.
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The poll has taken that into account. Click on "Alabama" and it shows our key losses. All of the JRs who have declared are listed.
 
It won't matter. LSU is just better. And you've been around me long enough to know the sports mantra that I live by: "Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth." Thanks Mike Tyson.

Mystical said:
You think Oregon will be motivated to play LSU in the opener next year?
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I agree with you, especially about Auburn. I think they're ranked #5 out of respect of what they accomplished this season. Here's what I just explained to my cousin from North Carolina on Facebook earlier this morning.

"I don't know what I can say about next year's Auburn's team that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan. It's bombed & depleted. They lose 4 seniors off the offensive line who have all been starting together since their true freshman years. Cam's gone. Fairley's gone.Antoine Carter, Mike Blanc, and Zach Clayton (DL) are all gone. Bynes and Stevens (Linebackers) are gone. Etheridge & Washington are gone from the defensive backfield. So yeah..they'll be pretty much rebuilding all next season. And the QB position is looking shaky at best.
That's my first time looking at it like that. I guess from that,I can understand their "All in" approach. They're losing all these guys and will quite possibly be slammed with NCAA sanctions. Can't say I blame them. Might as well get to enjoy the glory for a little while."

J.E.B. Stuart said:
I don't see that remotely happening. Alabama, LSU, Ark, Auburn all in the top 6?? Can't happen. They would be beating each other, thus, probably all have maybe 2 losses. No way they end up in top 6 with that record. Texas at #31 and they have had top 2 or 3 recruiting classes since time began. So much for reloading.
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Saban14 said:
That poll is based on no juniors leaving. With us losing McElroy, Ingram, Julio, Carpenter, Dareus, and Dial, we have a lot of question marks. I don't see us pre-season top 5 at the start of the season. As we learned this year, there are way too many unknowns. You can't judge a team strictly based on talent, and a lot of teams can underachieve. I think we have a firm foundation to be a contender, but we have no idea about team chemistry or how much improvement our guys will make in the off-season.

Oklahoma will be stacked next year and have an easier schedule, LSU will be stacked once again, Oregon will be back in the hunt, Stanford is loaded, and until next year, Auburn is the defending national champs and worthy of some pre-season respect.

I'll say this, though. With Auburn winning the title this year, I think this lights a fire under our team and will motivate them to improve hugely in the off-season. Nothing like the disappointment of watching your rival win it all to push you to improve. I'm sure CNS will be very happy with the team's work ethic in the off-season.
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Not sure Im following your logic? Just because a team won it the year before doesnt mean they should get even one vote for number one. It should be based on who is coming back and they have a third of their team leaving, not counting liar and dirty. Alabama's preseason ranking this year was because we had a lot of talent coming back on offense. Au does not have that.
 
bamaman07 said:
UF will be in transition next year. South Carolina will be the best team in the East. It's a very weak division now with Georgia in the toilet. Tennessee could be a suprise. Alabama and LSU will definitely be the best teams in the west, with Arkansas a close third. I think Bama should start out in the top 5 next year. There are very few, if any teams, that can match our talent level. LSU is the only one I can think of.
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The GOOD thing about next year is that LSU AND Arkansas have to come to TTown. The Barn will be on the road as will Miss State. UTooth will be better. SC is the top team in the East. Florida will be changing over their offense from the Tbow-bone to an NFL type O under Charley. So, probably early on will not be clicking.
 
Mystical said:
Texas not in the top 25 no way they will have the same kind of year they had last year not to mention they only have one tough game.
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I hope Texas and Oklahoma voters take into account their weak schedules next year. Then again, there may be a few teams who step up in the Big 12-2. That conference will turn into a laughingstock without the championship game and/or a few other decent teams each season.
 
bamabryan said:
I think Alabama being a top five team in 2011 is a no brainer. We had a young team this year and had nine new starters on defense. Sure losing Julio, Dareus and Ingram is going to hurt, but we might as well get used to it. I think we can pretty mnuch count on losing at least two or three players every year (leaving Alabama after their junior year) considering the talent level on the team.
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We should also get used to having a target on our backs. In fact, we should be used to that already; we are Alabama. As long as Saban and company continue to recruit extremely well and win at least ten games every year, we will continue to be ranked in the top five of preseason polls. We can either live up to the billing each year or turn into Ohio St. I think we will get it done and win another SEC title and national title within the next three years. It certainly won't hurt my feelings if we win it again next year and/or the year after that and/or the year after that. It is very difficult to win an SEC and national title, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if we are ranked in the top five preseason poll each of the next three seasons.
 
BFANLC said:
Not sure Im following your logic? Just because a team won it the year before doesnt mean they should get even one vote for number one. It should be based on who is coming back and they have a third of their team leaving, not counting liar and dirty. Alabama's preseason ranking this year was because we had a lot of talent coming back on offense. Au does not have that.
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Agreed. Auburn is losing 24 seniors along with their best two players (Fig Newton and Nick Felony). Auburn might be lucky to get fourth place in the SEC West.
 
Saban14 said:
That poll is based on no juniors leaving. With us losing McElroy, Ingram, Julio, Carpenter, Dareus, and Dial, we have a lot of question marks. I don't see us pre-season top 5 at the start of the season. As we learned this year, there are way too many unknowns. You can't judge a team strictly based on talent, and a lot of teams can underachieve. I think we have a firm foundation to be a contender, but we have no idea about team chemistry or how much improvement our guys will make in the off-season.

Oklahoma will be stacked next year and have an easier schedule, LSU will be stacked once again, Oregon will be back in the hunt, Stanford is loaded, and until next year, Auburn is the defending national champs and worthy of some pre-season respect.

I'll say this, though. With Auburn winning the title this year, I think this lights a fire under our team and will motivate them to improve hugely in the off-season. Nothing like the disappointment of watching your rival win it all to push you to improve. I'm sure CNS will be very happy with the team's work ethic in the off-season.
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Pretty much agree with all of this ^^^
 
Additionally, the one common ingredient I seem to take away from almost all of the recent BCS champions (aside from all being really talented and all that) is that they had a QB who, whether or not he was a gaudy numbers guy, was a leader and a guy who the rest of the team jumped behind and would roll with through thick and thin. I think back all the way to CNS' first BCSCG season with LSU and Matt Mauck - he was a guy who the team had great respect for and remember seeing the pregame interviews with the players talking about how he was THE leader of that team. Then last year Greg was that guy for us and so on and so on. As much as we despise Sham, no one can deny that he had the complete respect and backing from his teamates.

Next year, I see us having everything in place we need. The one piece of the puzzle, that could bring the chemistry of the 2011 team together, would be whether or not one of our two young highly talented QBs can become that guy that the team rallies behind. I know they are both talented and will put up good numbers, but I will be keen on watching how the team responds to one or both of them and rallies behind. JMO
 
I don't think they pick the preseason top 25 based on their schedule or they wouldn't pick very many SEC teams b/c they all have tough schedules. This is based off of the talent they have and this list seems to be just about right.
 
Im buying stock in EVERYONE but Bama. Auburn, LSU, OU, Oregon, UTw, Texas State, Memphis, Hawaii, MSU, Auburn (again), Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and LSU (again). I want the pressure on another program, I want ESPN at another program, I want the top 5 pre-season rankings with another team, I want the media hounding another team, I want Finebaum's callers talking about how great another team it, etc. I want this team to be 110% focused on improving as much as possible, and the only influence I want them to be listening to is Nick Saban/coaching staff. Let someone else have the target on their back for awhile. I want our guys to be so motivated in the off-season, that they can't wait to get up every day to improve and show the country why they are the best. That is what helped us in 2009, and that is what will help in 2011.

It is virtually impossible to stay extremely motivated at all times, especially when you are being told how amazing you are by everyone (minus the coaching staff). It's basic psychology. However, when you are working your way up, motivation can be huge. I think some of us felt this way as fans this way too. I have no doubt that CNS will be playing this angle big time soon.
 
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