IS THERE AN NCAA RULE THAT ALABAMA HAS TO PLAY IN THECOLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF?
No, it's not a rule. It just seems that way.
Alabama is the only team that has played in the first five playoffs, and the Crimson Tide are favored to make it six in a row this season.
No team that plays in the SEC West can be said to have an easy schedule, but Alabama's certainly is manageable.
First and foremost, Alabama doesn't play itself.
The Tide also get LSU -- projected as Alabama's main competition in the West -- at home.
Alabama's toughest road games figure to be at Texas A&M and Auburn.
The big nonconference game for the Tide is against Duke in Atlanta, which is essentially a home game for Alabama.
If this were basketball, we'd like Duke's chances a whole lot more.
David Cutcliffe, the former Ole Miss coach and Tennessee offensive coordinator, has built a nice program at Duke, but not one that can challenge Alabama.
And if the Tide somehow stumble, lose an SEC game and don't win the conference title, that doesn't mean Alabama won't win the national championship.
Twice Alabama has won national titles without winning the SEC title -- in 2011 and 2017. Both times the Tide beat the SEC champion in the national title game -- LSU in 2011 and Georgia in 2017.
ARE WE GOING TO GET ALABAMA-CLEMSON V?
It looks like a distinct possibility that the Tide and Tigers will meet in the College Football Playoff for the fifth consecutive year after Alabama and Clemson took turns winning the past four national titles.
There doesn't seem to be an ACC team capable of challenging Clemson, and as mentioned above, Alabama is the heavy favorite to win the SEC championship.
WHO ARE THE TOP CANDIDATES TO WIN THE HEISMAN TROPHY?
The list includes Alabama's current quarterback, the Tide's former quarterback, Georgia's current quarterback and the Bulldogs' former quarterback.
Alabama junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the favorite after finishing second in the Heisman balloting last year to Kyler Murray, the Oklahoma quarterback who is now a rookie with the Arizona Cardinals after becoming the NFL's No. 1 overall pick.
Jalen Hurts -- who was Alabama's starter in 2017 and backed up Tagovailoa last season -- is hoping to become the third consecutive transfer quarterback at Oklahoma to win the Heisman, following Baker Mayfield and Murray.
Georgia junior quarterback Jake Fromm also is high on the Heisman odds, which resulted in his backup last season, Justin Fields, transferring to Ohio State. Fields was granted a waiver by the NCAA for immediate eligibility.
Fields is among the top 10 on most Heisman odds boards.
Other quarterbacks who enter the season with Heisman buzz are Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez and Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson, who began his college career at Ole Miss.
Running backs listed on most Heisman odds are Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor, Clemson's Travis Etienne, Alabama's Najee Harris and Georgia's D'Andre Swift.
WHICH EX-SEC COACHES ARE BACK IN THE GAME?
You didn't think you'd seen the last of the Mad Hatter, did you?
Les Miles, who had a 114-34 record at LSU and led the Tigers to the 2007 national championship, is the new coach at Kansas after sitting out the previous two seasons.
Hugh Freeze, the former Arkansas State University coach who won big at Ole Miss but then was undone by off-the-field issues that included the Rebels being hit with NCAA sanctions, is getting another chance as Liberty's coach.
Jim McElwain, who was fired as Florida's coach late in the 2017 season, is at Central Michigan.
IS THERE STILL AN ARKANSAS PRESENCE ON THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SELECTION COMMITTEE?
Two of the 13 committee members have ties to the state of Arkansas.
Ken Hatfield, the former University of Arkansas player and coach who now lives in Northwest Arkansas, is on the committee for the second consecutive year.
Arkansas State Athletic Director Terry Mohajir is a new committee member.
There has been someone with ties to an Arkansas school on the committee since its first season in 2014. Jeff Long was the Razorbacks' athletic director when he served on the committee from 2014-17. He was the chairman for the first two seasons.
Long is now the athletic director at Kansas.
WHAT TEAMS FIGURE TO MAKE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF?
Assuming Alabama and Clemson make it again, some logical choices are Michigan or Ohio State from the Big Ten; Oklahoma or Texas from the Big 12; Georgia, Florida or LSU if they win the SEC championship; Oregon if it beats Auburn and then wins the Pac 12 title; or Notre Dame.
WHICH COACHES ARE ON HOT SEAT?
If you believe what you read, two of the top guys on a list no one wants to make are former Arkansas assistant coaches Gus Malzahn (Auburn) and Chris Ash (Rutgers).
At the top of the list is Southern Cal's Clay Helton.
IS NICK SABAN FINALLY GOING TO LOSE TO ONE OF HIS FORMER ASSISTANT COACHES?
It has to happen some time, right?
There will be at least three opportunities for a coach to be the first former assistant to beat Saban when Alabama plays at South Carolina (Will Muschamp), at Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher) and against Tennessee (Jeremy Pruitt).
Out of those three games, the Aggies would figure to have by far the best shot to beat Saban and Alabama.
If Alabama wins the SEC West, the Tide could face another former Saban assistant in Georgia's Kirby Smart in the conference championship game.
Thus far, Saban is 16-0 against his former assistants.
HOW MANY ACTIVE HEAD COACHES HAVE WON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS?
The list is back up to five with Mack Brown getting hired at North Carolina and Les Miles at Kansas.
Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005, and Miles won one at LSU in 2007.
Other current coaches with national titles are Alabama's Nick Saban (six), Clemson's Dabo Swinney (two) and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher (one).
Saban has one national title at LSU and five at Alabama. Swinney has won both of his titles at Clemson, and Fisher won his at Florida State.
Urban Meyer, who resigned as Ohio State's coach after last season, won three national titles -- two at Florida and one with the Buckeyes.
WHICH FIRST-YEAR SEC COACH WILL HAVE THE MOST SUCCESS?
It's a trick question. After having six new coaches in 2018, the SEC doesn't have any new guys this season.
HOW MANY BOWL GAMES ARE THERE NOW?
There are 40 bowl games. The SEC has agreements for a minimum of nine bowl games, including at least one of the big six from among the Orange, Peach and Sugar bowls. It's possible SEC teams could play in three of the six games, which happened last season with Alabama (Orange), Georgia (Sugar) and LSU (Fiesta).
Other bowls with SEC tie-ins are the Citrus, Outback, Music City, Liberty, Texas, Belk, Birmingham and Independence.
Last season, 11 SEC teams played in bowl games.
Sports on 08/25/2019