Alabama runs the SEC. They have the No. 1 recruiting class almost every year, they've been in more College Football Playoffs than anyone, and they are the standard when it comes to SEC Champions. At the beginning of every season, we do not ask "Who will be in the SEC title game?" We ask, "Who will face Alabama in the SEC title game?"
Some people say that makes the SEC boring, monotonous, even going as far as saying that it makes SEC football "not fun." I disagree whole heartedly with that sentiment. Constantly changing top teams doesn't make football or any sport better. The only thing that does is make the stories harder to follow.
Sure, we love football for the big hits, highlight touchdowns, and whatnot but every sport is only as good as the story that it tells. That's why we are hyped to see Mahomes vs Brady in the Super Bowl more than if it was Baker Mayfield vs Tom Brady. Story is key to all sports and having one big bad guy makes every story better. Hell, every sports movie ever is about an underdog and Alabama football has created the ultimate underdog story every single year.
Whether it is just in the SEC or in the CFB Playoffs, the masses want to see who can beat the machine that is Alabama. We want to see Florida take it to them in the SEC championship game to ruin a perfect season. Then when we don't get it, it doesn't ruin the whole game, we still got to ride the highs and lows.
There is a reason why Ric Flair has so many title runs in professional wrestling. He was the top bad guy for decades and the story is always better when the good guy has to chase, grind, and climb their way to eventually beat the bad guy. But what happens when they finally win? The story is over. So the bad guy has to take the title back to start the fun up again. The fact that Bama can keep on recruiting the top class just means that we have a damn good villain every single year.
We as fans want someone to cheer against and we get that with a good Alabama team. That is almost more important than having a team to cheer for.
What do you think?