The "Iron Bowl is meaningless" thread got me thinking about a potential scenario, so I thought I'd pose it as a hypothetical "Would you rather?" question to the board.
The hypothetical centers around Cam Robinson, Bo Scarbrough, Tim Williams, and Reuben Foster. In both scenarios, Alabama will go on to win the SEC Championship and play in the CFP. The difference is in how we get there and the shape we are in when we arrive.
Scenario one:
The coaches make the executive decision to hold Cam and Bo, whose minor injuries are discovered to perhaps be not so minor, out of the Iron Bowl in order to rest up and heal. Early on in the game, Williams and Foster are both injured, spend a few minutes in the medical tent, and are cleared to go back into the game. Not wanting to risk further injury to either, the coaches decide to sit them for the rest of the game.
The end result is that we lose the Iron Bowl but go into the CFP with all four players healthy.
Scenario two:
The coaches make the executive decision to go ahead and play Cam and Bo, whose minor injuries are discovered to perhaps be not so minor, in the Iron Bowl in order to have our best chance to win the game. Early on in the game, Williams and Foster are both injured, spend a few minutes in the medical tent, and are cleared to go back into the game. With the outcome of the game far from decided, the coaches decide to put them back on the field. In the third quarter, Foster re-aggravates and worsens his injury while Robinson does the same late in the fourth but not before we able to get the game in hand. Williams and Scarbrough nurse their injuries during the next week and play in the SEC Championship game, only to suffer the same fates in that game as Cam and Reuben the previous week.
The end result is that we win the Iron Bowl but go into the CFP with all four of those players unavailable for the playoff.
So, given these two hypothetical choices, which would you rather?
The hypothetical centers around Cam Robinson, Bo Scarbrough, Tim Williams, and Reuben Foster. In both scenarios, Alabama will go on to win the SEC Championship and play in the CFP. The difference is in how we get there and the shape we are in when we arrive.
Scenario one:
The coaches make the executive decision to hold Cam and Bo, whose minor injuries are discovered to perhaps be not so minor, out of the Iron Bowl in order to rest up and heal. Early on in the game, Williams and Foster are both injured, spend a few minutes in the medical tent, and are cleared to go back into the game. Not wanting to risk further injury to either, the coaches decide to sit them for the rest of the game.
The end result is that we lose the Iron Bowl but go into the CFP with all four players healthy.
Scenario two:
The coaches make the executive decision to go ahead and play Cam and Bo, whose minor injuries are discovered to perhaps be not so minor, in the Iron Bowl in order to have our best chance to win the game. Early on in the game, Williams and Foster are both injured, spend a few minutes in the medical tent, and are cleared to go back into the game. With the outcome of the game far from decided, the coaches decide to put them back on the field. In the third quarter, Foster re-aggravates and worsens his injury while Robinson does the same late in the fourth but not before we able to get the game in hand. Williams and Scarbrough nurse their injuries during the next week and play in the SEC Championship game, only to suffer the same fates in that game as Cam and Reuben the previous week.
The end result is that we win the Iron Bowl but go into the CFP with all four of those players unavailable for the playoff.
So, given these two hypothetical choices, which would you rather?
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