Alabama football is a juggernaut. I hate them, the way all juggernauts should be hated by their enemies, and I hope they lose the rest of their games and then get the NCAA death penalty when it turns out Nick Saban performs blood rituals in his dungeon. This, to me, would be ideal.
But I know it's not happening. The blood ritual stuff is definitely true, but as for losing games? No way. The Crimson Tide are the defending national champions, and they've won every game this year by at least 22 points. In fact, only two of their wins have remained within 30 points. Nick Saban manages to gripe about something trivial after each blowout, but it's a hollow act—his team is barely legal. If there was any justice, they'd start every game down by 25.
There is zero doubt that Alabama deserves to be the no. 1 team in the nation. But when you look at the AP rankings from week seven, something interesting emerges: Of the 61 voters in the AP poll, there are two bona fide Bama haters! One is Keith Sargent of NJ Advanced Media. He's on the Rutgers beat, and for some reason he gives the nod to Ohio State, a team that definitely looks good, but barely eked out a one-point win at Penn State. (Amazingly, Sargent moved Ohio State over Bama only after that win.)
The other Bama hater, and by far the funniest, is Soren Petro of Sports Radio 810 in Leawood, KS. He has Alabama ranked third, which is impossible to read as anything but a brazen troll of a really annoying fan base. Even better, he had them third all the way back in the preseason, which means there is no point in 2018 at which he believed Alabama was the best team in college football. His number one? Clemson, who almost lost at home to Syracuse a week ago and barely beat the same Texas A&M team that Alabama waxed.
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I don't know Soren Petro, and I don't know his motivations, but I like to believe he has a vendetta against Alabama, and he's carrying it out in his rankings. I do know this: He's trolling an entire state, and it's making people mad.
If I'm Soren Petro's branding consultant—and Soren, if you read this, I'm available—my advice would be to trigger Alabama fans in a big way by moving them down to no. 6 this week. He's missing a huge opportunity by bumping Ohio State and Notre Dame ahead of them. And hell, UCF is undefeated too—why not throw them in there too and knock the Crimson Tide down to seventh?
None of this stuff matters anyway, so count me in for more Soren Petro hilarity. Step aside, Nate Silver: I have a new favorite pollster.
But I know it's not happening. The blood ritual stuff is definitely true, but as for losing games? No way. The Crimson Tide are the defending national champions, and they've won every game this year by at least 22 points. In fact, only two of their wins have remained within 30 points. Nick Saban manages to gripe about something trivial after each blowout, but it's a hollow act—his team is barely legal. If there was any justice, they'd start every game down by 25.
There is zero doubt that Alabama deserves to be the no. 1 team in the nation. But when you look at the AP rankings from week seven, something interesting emerges: Of the 61 voters in the AP poll, there are two bona fide Bama haters! One is Keith Sargent of NJ Advanced Media. He's on the Rutgers beat, and for some reason he gives the nod to Ohio State, a team that definitely looks good, but barely eked out a one-point win at Penn State. (Amazingly, Sargent moved Ohio State over Bama only after that win.)
The other Bama hater, and by far the funniest, is Soren Petro of Sports Radio 810 in Leawood, KS. He has Alabama ranked third, which is impossible to read as anything but a brazen troll of a really annoying fan base. Even better, he had them third all the way back in the preseason, which means there is no point in 2018 at which he believed Alabama was the best team in college football. His number one? Clemson, who almost lost at home to Syracuse a week ago and barely beat the same Texas A&M team that Alabama waxed.
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I don't know Soren Petro, and I don't know his motivations, but I like to believe he has a vendetta against Alabama, and he's carrying it out in his rankings. I do know this: He's trolling an entire state, and it's making people mad.
If I'm Soren Petro's branding consultant—and Soren, if you read this, I'm available—my advice would be to trigger Alabama fans in a big way by moving them down to no. 6 this week. He's missing a huge opportunity by bumping Ohio State and Notre Dame ahead of them. And hell, UCF is undefeated too—why not throw them in there too and knock the Crimson Tide down to seventh?
None of this stuff matters anyway, so count me in for more Soren Petro hilarity. Step aside, Nate Silver: I have a new favorite pollster.
