re: Anybody feel like this football season is the most critical we have had in a decade?

We're about to start beating Alabama again and restore balance at the top of the SEC.

Of course, Clemson is officially the new Alabama with their hardware and coaching staff (mainly Venables so long as he remains there) and their absolutely otherworldly and unprecedented recruiting success. But at least Clemson isn't in the same division of the same conference that we are.

The ramifications of this season will of course be huge. If we lose to gumpville again and fail to make a NY6 bowl, obviously we lose our momentum. If we beat them, contend for the SEC or win it, and/or make the CFP, our momentum increases.

But as tired as I get of talking about Alabama, it truly is the big obstacle. You can listen to Saban's most recent comments where he said that his team did great up until after beating LSU where he claims they lost focus. That speaks volumes and shows that even though they've owned us for greater than half a decade, Saban still has them circling the LSU game on the calendar every year.

When we beat the gumps it will deflate them. But we can't let the victory overinflate our collective egos either like Saban claims it did to his team. We still have important games to play after that, including putting aTm back in their place.

Again, absolutely hate to continue to drone on about the significance of the Alabama game, but it's the first mountain that must be climbed before we can turn our focus to different things. Without competing with, and beating Alabama at least half the time, we can't continue an upward trajectory.