The 2019 college football season will culminate with the sixth College Football Playoff. And just like death and taxes, one thing is for certain: the Tide will be there. That’s not a guess and it’s not wishful thinking since I’d like to see anyone other than the Tide playing for a National Championship, but they haven’t missed the CFP yet as the only program to make all five appearances. And Bama is once again the class of the SEC.
Glancing over the roster and the schedule it’s easy to see the Tide winning 11 games and possibly going through the regular season undefeated. Following their CFP title game win following the 2017 season, 12 players were drafted into the NFL. That would cripple every other program in the country, except Bama. The Tide reloaded for last season and went undefeated until their loss to Clemson in the title game. The NFL purged the roster again, but the Tide has a chip on its shoulder and is waiting for a possible rematch with the Tigers in January.
College Football Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Alabama To Make 4-team Playoff
Yes -250
No +190
The Tide has been so good during the CFP era that they make the playoff even when they don’t win the SEC West and play in the conference championship game. That happened in 2017 when they lost the tie-breaker to Auburn. It was their only loss and they were tabbed as a CFP club, validating the committee’s selection by defeating SEC champ Georgia for the national title. Excluding bowl games, Bama hasn’t lost twice in a season since 2010. And there is no sign that the streak is going to end in 2019.
2019 Alabama Crimson Tide Schedule
Week 1: vs. Duke Blue Devils
Week 2: vs. New Mexico State Aggies
Week 3: at South Carolina Gamecocks
Week 4: vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Week 5: vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Week 6: OFF
Week 7: at Texas A&M Aggies
Week 8: vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Week 9: vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Week 10: OFF
Week 11: vs. LSU Tigers
Week 12: at Mississippi State Bulldogs
Week 13: vs. Western Carolina Catamounts
Week 14: at Auburn Tigers
Schedule Analysis
Bama could probably play with 10 guys on the field and they’d still beat Duke and New Mexico State to open the season. Other non-conference tilts are against Southern Miss and Western Carolina in what amount to your classic body bag games. SEC plays open at South Carolina in Week 3 and the stiffest challenges against Texas AM and LSU come after an off week.
There are just two true road games from the start of the season until mid-November and the annual Iron Bowl is preceded with a cupcake game against Western Carolina. Another gift is skipping Florida and Georgia in cross over games, and the game with permanent East foe Tennessee is in Tuscaloosa. There could be one slip up, but it’s unlikely we see more than that.
Season Preview
If anything we’re likely to see Bama play with a chip on its shoulder after an embarrassing defeat to Clemson in the National Championship. The offense returns a good chunk of production from a group that averaged 522 yards and 45.6 points per game in 2018. Tua Tagovailoa set all kinds of passing records last season, but the campaign ended on a sour note. Tua is going to be more motivated to take opponents apart this year.
Jalen Hurts is no longer around and any down time from Tua could be problematic. Remember, though, Bama won a national title with Jake Coker at quarterback. If Tua does go down for any length of time they’ll just run the football more with Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. taking over behind an impressive line.
We said prior to last season that defense could be the weak link after the NFL plucked several key players. All Bama did was rank 16th in total defense and 12th in points allowed. Well, it happened again, and we’ll say it again. Several key performers chose the NFL over another season in Tuscaloosa and the depth has been depleted. But we are getting picky in trying to find a weakness. The Tide simply reloads and they did it again with their sights set on another national title.
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