The SEC's reign of seven consecutive national championships, and Alabama in particular, has worn thin on the public consciousness, according to NFL Media college football analyst Charles Davis. In a radio interview with CBS Sports' Tim Brando on Monday, Davis joined a familiar chorus, one that has grown over recent years.
Grown tired, that is.
"When you sit there and analyze it all, it's real easy when a team's been the frontrunner for a long time for all of us to search for the alternative," Davis said, referring to the two-time defending national champion Crimson Tide.
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Alabama has won three of the last four national titles, although in each of the past two, UA has lost a regular-season home game and still managed to resurface to the top-two BCS poll ranking necessary to reach the national title game. In both cases, UA needed help from other games to do so, but in both cases, Alabama won convincingly in the title game (21-0 over LSU, 42-14 over Notre Dame).
The question, however, is whether pollsters are equally tired of the same conference, and to a lesser extent, the same team, occupying the BCS championship chair year after year. If they are, the unbeaten Crimson Tide may need to stay that way to force its way back to a chance at an unprecedented third consecutive BCS national title. A one-loss Alabama team, on the other hand? Perhaps not.
"That's what happens when you're on the scene a long time," Davis added. "People are sick of the SEC. People are sick of Alabama, those who aren't SEC-affiliated."
Two remaining hurdles stand out above others for the Crimson Tide: LSU at home next month, and the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta in early December. Absent a loss in one of those games, the national title game will likely feature familiar colors.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
