BOL Round Table

Not to be a downer, but this sure feels like mid-winter of 2010 right after we thrashed Texas and reclaimed our rightful place at the top of College Football - confident that we would be right back in the title game next year even after losing several top quality defenders to the NFL.

I always thought that during the 2010 season, the real problem wasn't that we lost Ro and Javier . . . everyone knew about their quality as football players. It was that we lost guys like Brandon Deaderick, who wasn't much touted in college, but went to the Patriots and quickly became a starter.

My point is this - we lose more than we think. I don't know who this year's Brandon Deaderick will be, but it's really difficult to fathom how deep and talented this years defense was.

That being said, I am going to temper my expectations for next year. We have a lot of talent on the defense, but the experience will be lacking and it's extremely tough to repeat in the modern game of College Football. We very well may win 10 games - I hope we do. But I am not going to be surprised if we drop a "South Carolina" type game next year because of lack of experience on the Defensive side of the ball. Saban doesn't "dumb down" his complex defense. He runs it the way that he runs it. That means, I think, that we may have a lot of peaks and valleys in terms of experience coming and going. I think 2013, however, will be a monster for the good guys.

10-2 is probably the right answer. due to our defensive inexperience, opponents with good defenses will make us sweat more than we'd like to.

@ Missouri could end up being a tricky game... much like at South Carolina last year. Obviously I think we'll have a better team but you never know. First time there in a long long time, they'll be all fired up.