{"id":72886,"date":"2024-10-17T08:24:29","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T13:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/dear-andy-should-alabama-fans-worry-about-the-programs-long-term-health\/"},"modified":"2024-10-17T08:24:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T13:24:29","slug":"dear-andy-should-alabama-fans-worry-about-the-programs-long-term-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/dear-andy-should-alabama-fans-worry-about-the-programs-long-term-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Andy: Should Alabama fans worry about the program\u2019s long-term health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alabama<\/a><\/strong> will play a potentially trying game in Knoxville on Saturday, and you, the listeners of\u00a0Andy & Ari On3<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, have questions. Let\u2019s dive into the latest edition of\u00a0Dear Andy<\/em>\u00a0to answer your college football questions.<\/p>\n

From Tyler<\/strong>:
As an Alabama fan striving to be rational, when should I start to worry about the status of the program (not season)? Cardiac Kalen is killing me, but I don\u2019t want to be premature in my judgments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The terms \u201crational\u201d and \u201cAlabama fan\u201d don\u2019t often belong in the same sentence, but Tyler has asked questions here for a long time and doesn\u2019t strike me as someone who would poison a tree to get revenge for a loss or even rant to Paul Finebaum after a particularly stressful win. He\u2019s pretty even-keel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, six games into Kalen DeBoer<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s tenure feels a tad early to start questioning the future of the entire program. But a win against Georgia<\/a><\/strong> followed by a loss to Vanderbilt<\/a><\/strong> followed by an almost-loss to South Carolina <\/a><\/strong>is the kind of emotional roller-coaster that can make a fan ask a lot of big-picture questions \u2014 especially when the rest of the schedule is tough and the team isn\u2019t dominating the way it did under the last guy.<\/p>\n

The last guy is, of course, the GOAT. Nick Saban<\/a><\/strong> created a team that felt invincible. And when it did lose, it rarely came close to losing again the following week to another team with inferior talent.<\/p>\n

It may be that a shift to more competitive games was always going to happen for Alabama no matter who coached the team. The sport has changed. A few elite programs can\u2019t stockpile the best players anymore. There was a time in the Saban era when Alabama\u2019s backups probably would have beaten every team ranked below No. 15. That hasn\u2019t been the case in the era of NIL and unlimited transfers.<\/p>\n

I wonder if Saban saw some of these results coming, and I wonder if that\u2019s why he retired when he did. I visited Saban in Tuscaloosa for Sports Illustrated in November 2017 as he was working toward his sixth national title (fifth at Alabama). In his office, he told me this:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never satisfied. My greatest fear, professionally is that we might lose the next game. It\u2019s not because of the fans. It\u2019s not because of the expectations. I want to do the best job I can to help our players have the best opportunity to do that. I hate the feeling you have when you lose, but I also hate the feeling that you have when you didn\u2019t do a good job for your players.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next bit is the key\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I get to where I don\u2019t feel that way anymore, I would rather call it quits than to be satisfied watching it go down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban never wanted to preside over a program that didn\u2019t dominate the way Alabama dominated for most of his tenure. But perhaps it\u2019s impossible in this era for any program to dominate that way. Saban, who always seemed five steps ahead of his competitors, probably realized that well before he actually retired.<\/p>\n

What does that mean for Alabama going forward? It means the Crimson Tide can still win, and win a lot. They can still win SEC and national championships. But it probably also means the years with multiple regular-season losses will come more frequently. And there will be fewer SEC games that can be chalked up as automatic wins.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the world as nearly everyone else experiences it, Tyler. It\u2019s going to take some getting used to.<\/p>\n

From @ddwag<\/strong>:
If Indiana<\/a>, Penn State<\/a>, and Oregon<\/a> all finish 12-0 while Ohio State<\/a> is 9-3 (the only losses being to undefeated teams) A. Which undefeated would be left out of Indy? B. Would Ohio State make the playoff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of the reason I chose this question is because I love the instant predictions of doom every time Ohio State loses a game. (Because usually that doom doesn\u2019t happen and the Buckeyes just start beating teams mercilessly again.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I also thought it would be interesting to take the tiebreakers in the new Big Ten for a test drive. Plus, this also is a great way to plug the interview Ari Wasserman and I did with Indiana coach Curt Cignetti this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll start by answering section B. I don\u2019t think Ohio State would make the College Football Playoff in that scenario. Maybe it could if there was massive chaos in the other conferences, but the three 12-0 teams would get in along with four other conference champs and probably at least three more SEC teams. That would leave two spots. If the ACC has a 12-1 champ and a 12-1 runner-up, the runner-up is taking one of those spots. Ohio State would have to hope there wasn\u2019t another 10-2 SEC team or an 11-2 or 12-1 Big 12 runner-up. An 11-1 Notre Dame<\/a><\/strong> also would be a problem.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s go to the tiebreakers to answer section A.<\/p>\n

Tiebreaker No. 1 (head-to-head matchups among the tied teams) is out, because none of the three will have played one another.<\/p>\n

Tiebreaker No. 2 (record against common conference opponents) is out, because no one has a conference loss.<\/p>\n

Tiebreaker No. 3 (record against common conference opponents based on conference opponents\u2019 records) also is out for the same reason.<\/p>\n

Tiebreaker No. 4 probably would solve the puzzle. It would rank the teams based on the cumulative conference win percentage of each team\u2019s conference opponents. Essentially, the two teams that played the toughest conference schedule go to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game. Because the schedule is so front-loaded with non-conference games, we don\u2019t have a ton of data yet. But we can project.<\/p>\n

Oregon\u2019s best opponents \u2014 based on what we\u2019ve seen so far \u2014 are Ohio State, Michigan<\/a><\/strong>, Illinois<\/a><\/strong> and Wisconsin<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Penn State\u2019s best opponents are Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin and USC<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indiana\u2019s best opponents are Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

All three play Ohio State, Maryland<\/a><\/strong> and Washington<\/a><\/strong>, so it comes down to the records of the other six conference opponents on each schedule. Based on who each plays, my guess would be that Oregon and Penn State would play for the conference title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Hollywood Spence<\/strong>:
What (customized) 12 team conference would create the best dinner party menu if you were preparing their mascots to be served to your guests?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dinner Party Conference would make for one hell of a meal and possibly an even better season\u2026<\/p>\n

Texas<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Bevo gives us steaks, brisket, beef rib and burgers. (Also Rocky Mountain Oysters.)<\/p>\n

Arkansas<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Tusk gives us pulled pork, spare ribs, bacon and ham.<\/p>\n

South Carolina<\/strong> \u2013 You know what tastes like chicken? Sir Big Spur.<\/p>\n

Virginia Tech<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Who doesn\u2019t love a turkey leg?<\/p>\n

Colorado State<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Could go with mutton or lamb, depending on the age of the mascot.<\/p>\n

Colorado<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Ralphie is a bison, not a buffalo. And we can get leaner, juicer versions of the stuff we got from Bevo.<\/p>\n

Navy<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 If you\u2019ve been to a good Jamaican restaurant and had curry goat, you understand.<\/p>\n

Florida<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Fried gator tail is an elite appetizer.<\/p>\n

Oregon<\/strong> \u2013 Confit duck legs are getting devoured at this dinner party.<\/p>\n

Maryland<\/strong> \u2013 Nothing like a bowl of turtle soup with a sherry floater.<\/p>\n

Delta State<\/strong> \u2013 Delta State\u2019s team is officially nicknamed the Statesmen, but unofficially the mascot is the Fighting Okra. So let\u2019s fry up some and pickle some more.<\/p>\n\n

South Dakota State<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Paneed jackrabbit will be the dish everyone is talking about the next day.<\/p>\n

A Random Ranking<\/h2>\n

Reader Derek would like me to rank the best meat-and-three combinations. For those not from the South, a meat-and-three is a restaurant where diners select one entree and three sides. Perhaps the best version of this is Ajax Diner in Oxford, Miss. The best chain version is Lizard\u2019s Thicket in South Carolina. The options are plentiful, and ranking these was incredibly difficult.<\/p>\n

1. Meat<\/strong>: Fried chicken; Three<\/strong>: Black-eyed peas, collard greens, macaroni and cheese
2. Meat<\/strong>: Country fried steak; Three<\/strong>: Green beans, butterbeans, mac and cheese
3. Meat<\/strong>: Roast turkey; Three<\/strong>: Mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese, green beans
4. Meat<\/strong>: Fried catfish; Three<\/strong>: Fried okra, rice and gravy, collard greens
5. Meat<\/strong>: Fried pork chop; Three<\/strong>: Lima beans, black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes and gravy<\/p>\n

The post Dear Andy: Should Alabama fans worry about the program\u2019s long-term health?<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alabama will play a potentially trying game in Knoxville on Saturday, and you, the listeners…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}