My sycophant family members and I have extremely heated discussions about this during every holiday season. They always obfuscate the point at issue by claiming that other teams claim national titles that are questionable. THAT POINT IS ENTIRELY IRRELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION.

The claimed national titles versus the unclaimed national title argument doesn't work, because it doesn't even out in the end.

To be honest, no one would really give a rats arse about how many national titles Bama won if Bama fans would not flaunt their "national titles" in the face of their opponents.

The modern era of football does not owe any debt of gratitude to Bama. Football in the south is not dependent on Bama's success. The SEC does not owe any debt of gratitude to Bama. Bama did not "steal" Nick Saban from LSU. Bama will never run through college football like they did in the 1960s.

Before you say I'm obfuscating the issue, please consider that I'm attempting to help Bama fans. When Bama sucked, which has been for the majority of this century, I cheered for Bama in every game except the LSU/Bama game. I like Bama. However, the "Got Twelve", "Got Saban", and any other proclamations of how great your program truly is relative to other programs in the nation are desperate, and they result in an extreme and unhealthy hate for your university.

Right now, Bama is the child prodigy who turned to drugs when everyone caught up to him, and the only rebuttal he has is that at one time, he was so much better than you. I really hate that kid.