Long live the mighty Southeastern Conference, which thanks to Alabama’s win against Clemson in early January returned to its place atop the Football Bowl Subdivision after a long and torturous two-year absence.
Thanks, Alabama. The Crimson Tide have carried the flag for the SEC since 2009, when the program captured the first of its four national championships under Nick Saban, and is expected to do again so not just in 2016 but in perpetuity — or for however long Saban continues to find motivation in dominating the sport unlike any coach in history.
The rest of the SEC finds itself in a troubling predicament: Winning the national championship entails winning the SEC, but no team — outside of Mississippi, which has had Alabama’s number — seems capable of upsetting the league’s current power structure.