Out of Bama opening game curiosity, I checked on USC's 2016 season. We all know they got hammered game 1 vs Bama - something that, if I'm honest, gives me hesitation. However, USC was ranked 20th to start the year, & After that beating fell out of the polls. They followed it up by losing 2 out of their next 3, starting the season 1-3. They stayed untanked until November, when they beat a really good Washington squad. Then they climbed super quickly, going from #20 to #13 to #12 to #9 to the final ranking of #3.
It got me thinking, despite their hype at the end of the year, they simply weren't nearly the same team at the beginning of the year. Similar to FSU is a lot of ways - beat badly by one squad, fell apart for a few weeks, finally finding themselves for a late season run.
Anyway, it made me feel a bit easier about their Bama opener last year - they weren't the team we are, and I don't think Bama is as good as last year, either. I just remember being blown away by that final & then seeing USC at #3 to finish the season made me wide-eyed. Not so much after putting it in perspective.
It got me thinking, despite their hype at the end of the year, they simply weren't nearly the same team at the beginning of the year. Similar to FSU is a lot of ways - beat badly by one squad, fell apart for a few weeks, finally finding themselves for a late season run.
Anyway, it made me feel a bit easier about their Bama opener last year - they weren't the team we are, and I don't think Bama is as good as last year, either. I just remember being blown away by that final & then seeing USC at #3 to finish the season made me wide-eyed. Not so much after putting it in perspective.
