Take 'Bama and the 17 every game but 2, and even then ...

Tide will roll big in just about every game, the pro bookies say:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/three-row-alabama-favored-every-game-least-17-152623412.html

 

They're just trying to get Saban to go off on a rant during an otherwise quiet summer.

 

Bama will lose at least two games this year. You don't graduate three NFL-caliber offensive linemen, starting running back and half your defense and repeat as national champs.
I realize the Tide reloads every year, but that's a lot of talent to replace.

 

The 2009 Alabama team returned four offensive starters and went 14-0. That team also had to replace three NFL-caliber offensive linemen and its starting running back, plus its quarterback. And the defense gets gutted every year.

T.J. Yeldon is more talented than Eddie Lacy, just as Mark Ingram was more talented than Glen Coffee and Trent Richardson was more talented than Ingram. The running back position isn't an issue. Alabama has six or seven guys who could rush for 1,000 yards for other programs.

The defense is similarly not an issue. It may actually be better this season than last, when the defense took a half-step back as the offense took a step forward from 2011.

The offensive line could be tricky, but several guys stood out in camp, and Cyrus Kouandjio should be the best left tackle in the country.

 

Point spreads on college games are dumb.

 

What I meant was gambling on college sports is dumb. That's one of the (few) things I remember from my mandatory two-day seminar for all university athletic department employees.

 

Whining about being overrated is part of the process too, you know.

 

Honestly, I pity Johnny Ballgame on September 14.

 

Yeah, I'm betting Bama no matter the points.