COTTRELL COLUMN: Bama’s back, for real this time

If you listen closely, you should be able to hear the sound.

It’s faint, but you can make it out.

That groaning noise you’ve been hearing since about 8 p.m. Saturday night is the collective panic of the rest of the Southeastern Conference.

Why, you ask?

Because for the first time in a while, you can truly say that Alabama football is back.

Saturday night’s dismantling of Georgia — even with the second-half letdown — was a thing of beauty, and the Tide now controls its own destiny for a trip to the BCS National Championship Game.

Now even the most ardent Tide fan would be kidding himself if he didn’t think this team had its deficiencies. From the glaring youth and lack of depth to the still somewhat unanswered questions in the secondary, there are areas in which Alabama has problems.

The Tide’s skill position players — at least right now — don’t measure up to a lot of teams in the Top 10, but as of yet it hasn’t mattered because Alabama might be stronger on the offensive and defensive lines than anyone else in the country, and by a wide margin.

If you saw Alabama’s offensive line blowing Georgia’s front seven off the ball and defensive lineman Terrance Cody continuing to be a one-man wrecking crew, you realize Bama has an advantage in the trenches few can match.

And with the next five games all imminently winnable, we could be coming down to a Nick Saban vs. Les Miles deathmatch for SEC West and national supremacy on Nov. 15 in Baton Rouge, La.

And then there’s that little thing called the Iron Bowl on Nov. 29.

And just think, the Tide is probably still really a year or two away from fielding its best team under Saban.

All in all, you’ve got to be pretty excited if you’re an Alabama fan at this point. And pretty scared if you’re a fan of anyone else in the SEC.

It’s happening again ...
Lost in the shuffle of Alabama’s dominant win was what may be the beginning of more madness on the level of last season.

No. 1 USC lost to Oregon State, No. 4 Florida lost to Ole Miss, No. 9 Wisconsin lost to Michigan (after leading, 19-0, at halftime), No. 16 Wake Forest lost to Navy, No. 20 Clemson lost to Maryland and No. 23 East Carolina lost to Houston.

And to make things even more weird, only USC and Wisconsin were on the road for their losses.

And then as the kicker, ESPN’s College GameDay will set up shop at Vanderbilt of all places this week.

We saw parity begin to rear its ugly head at the end of September in 2007, and it appears to be happening again as we head to October in 2008.

Who’s next on the upset watch? Who knows?

But it will definitely make things more interesting.

Whither, Virginia?
Remember how awesome everyone was telling us USC was after they decimated the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va., 52-7, on Aug. 30?

Well, Virginia has been conspicuously absent amidst the national dialogue since then, and with good reason.

They are historically bad.

Since that loss, the Cavaliers have struggled to defeat Richmond and then been beaten by a combined 76-13 by Connecticut and Duke.

Maybe we shouldn’t be quite so quick to judge things, eh ESPN?

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or