Top 5 Reasons Alabama Crimson Tide Will Win a Third Straight BCS Championship

The Tide Will Keep on Rolling

The Alabama Crimson Tide are NCAA football juggernauts. They have captured three of the last four BCS National Championships and are the only team to win back to back BCS titles.

Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban is a master of his craft and takes the job so seriously that it is hard to tell if he is ever having fun, even while he is hoisting yet another crystal football. ‘Bama recruits like a vacuum, sucking up all the best players from the south east and all corners of the country, which is also a credit to Saban who probably just flashes his four championship rings to secure commitments.

The Crimson Tide are members of the South Eastern Conference, which has claimed seven straight BCS championships. Only three teams have won more than one National Champions during the BCS era and, you guessed it, they are all from the SEC. The only time a team from the SEC has gone to the title game and lost was when the LSU Tigers fell short in the 2012 edition, and they just so happened to lose to fellow SEC member Alabama.

All of this is highly impressive, yet also highly depressing if you aren’t a ‘Bama fan or an SEC supporter. It gets worse for us non-Alabama/SEC cats though, because no matter how much you deny it Alabama is going to win a third National Championship in the 2013 season. Don’t believe me? Don’t want to believe me? Fine, here are five reasons why it is true.

A.J. McCarron Gives Tide Leadership Under Center

Crazy good quarterback A.J. McCarron will be back for the Tide in 2013. McCarron has ice in his veins. You can’t rattle the kid and he rarely makes mistakes, which is proof that a game manager style QB can still flourish in today’s world of dual threat QBs. McCarron completed 67.2% of his passes in 2012 for 2933 yards, 30 TDs and a miniscule 3 INTs. Expect more of the same in 2013.

One More Year of Eddie Lacy, T.J. Yeldon Combo

McCarron will still have running backs Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon to hand off to in 2013. Lacy is a 6’1”, 220 pound ballerina; the guy makes power running look beautiful. He used his 204 carries to rack up 1322 yards and 17 TDs in 2012. Yeldon is a big guy too, standing 6’2” and weighing in at 216 pounds, but people tend to forget that when they see Lacy’s tree like legs. Yeldon had 175 carries for 1108 yards and 12 TDs last season. Both of them averaged better than six yards per carry, with Lacy averaging 6.5 YPC and Yeldon averaging 6.3 YPC. These two are the best running back combo in all of college football, and ‘Bama gets to use them both for one more year. Lacy graduates after the 2013 season, but 2012 was only Yeldon’s freshman year.

Love Him or Hate Him, Nick Saban Wins Games and Rings

Nick Saban is a stupid good coach. It seems that no matter how many players the Crimson Tide lose at the end of a season, be it to graduation or the draft, they come back just as strong because Saban knows how to fill roster gaps. The guy could probably do more with duct tape, spit and JUCO players than the majority of other NCAA football coaches could do with all the talent they can muster. He just wins.

Alabama's Schedule is as Easy as it Gets for an SEC Team

The Crimson Tide have a pretty favorable schedule for 2013. They only play four road games all year, and only one of those should be of any concern: in College Station, TX against the Texas A&M Aggies. Kyle Field is hostile but I think that the Aggies will lose a step in 2013 and ‘Bama will get revenge. Trips to face the Kentucky Wildcats, Mississippi State Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers won’t trouble the Tide. They open against the Virginia Tech Hokies in Tuscaloosa, and while VT is always a threat I don’t think they will be able to upset Alabama. The rest of their non-SEC schedule is a joke with cupcake games against the Colorado State Rams, Georgia State Panthers, and Chattanooga Mocs. LSU has to come to Tuscaloosa and will be hurting as they are losing 10 players early to the NFL draft. The most important thing is who ‘Bama doesn’t have to play: the Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, Florida Gators or Vanderbilt Commodores. The Crimson Tide will skate to the SEC Championship game and even winning that shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Who the Hell is Going to Beat Them?

When looking around the country it is hard to find a team that will be able to make it to the BCS title game in order to knock Alabama off. Sure the Oregon Ducks, Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida State Seminoles will be strong teams and might be able to beat ‘Bama, but they may not even make it to the big dance. Oregon has to survive the Pac-12 where the Oregon State Beavers, Stanford Cardinals, UCLA Bruins and ever dangerous USC Trojans are lurking. Ohio State has the Michigan Wolverines to worry about as well as dark-horse teams like the Northwestern Wildcats and Penn State Nittany Lions who could bite them in the Big Ten. FSU has to deal with the Clemson Tigers in their division and the ever-improving Miami Hurricanes and North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC, not to mention a road game against Florida to end the year. Most likely a team from a conference that won’t be as solid top-to-bottom in 2013 will end up in the National Championship, and that is good news for Alabama.