re: Why is Bama getting so much love In Rankings

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They don't have a Rolando McClain as their leader like they did in 2008-2009. He was fierce and one of the best defensive leaders I have seen in college football. If Hightower steps up and takes that role? It could be another BCS run.

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Who DOES have Rolando McClain as their leader? You can't fault Bama for not having him if nobody else does either.

Last year, Bama's defense was VERY young. Very talented, but very young. Every Bama fan pointed to the defense, especially the secondary as the question mark. Most of us were cautiously optimistic that they would play well. Most of us also said, we could have a chance at a NC, but that the odds were always against winning a NC. Seems like we were pretty accurate to me. We had two very tough losses and the anomaly that was the USC game.

I think the same goes for this year. If the stars align, as they must for any team to win a NC, then it could happen. If not, it will be a very good team that should get no less than 10 wins.

The question marks on defense are gone. The young secondary actually played very well last year if you take out a few blown coverages due to the new guys making mental mistakes. You can point to the defensive line, but our defensive line has just been huge guys taking up blockers since Saban has been here. Even Dareus wasn't the sack monster that some people like to pretend he was. If they can just do their jobs and be huge and strong, then the linebackers, which are VERY good, are going to have a field day just like '09.