My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:
RJ's take: No program has more appearances in the College Football Playoff (eight), wins in the CFP (nine) and national titles won in the CFP era (three), than Alabama. But what's just as impressive as those three national titles is that Alabama has made the CFP once every other year since its inception in 2014.
Tide coach Kalen DeBoer is at risk of sullying that legacy. He must make the CFP in its 12-team format or Alabama might just ask Nick Saban to return and replace the guy he handpicked.
And DeBoer needs to do it with style: In games where Alabama was favored to win by 14 points or more, Saban was 135-3. In games where Alabama was favored to win by 14 or more last season, DeBoer was 6-3.
Quarterback Jalen Milroe and running back Justice Haynes are gone, but freshman phenom Ryan Williams remains. Ty Simpson will be the QB providing him service in Week 1, and RB Jam Miller will carry the load in the backfield with Haynes at Michigan this year.
Defensively, Deontae Lawson will set the tone. He's been steady in the middle with at least 67 tackles and 2.0 sacks each of the past two years.
Apart from the roster, DeBoer oversaw the first season in which Alabama lost four games in a season since 2007 -- Saban's Year 1.
Still, it looked good at the start of the DeBoer era. Remember, he began 4-0 with a win against No. 2-ranked Georgia before things fell apart. Beat everybody you're supposed to beat, like an offensively bad Oklahoma, middling Michigan and even plucky Vanderbilt and you won't have to pick a fight with the selection committee about SMU being a better team than you.
Easier said than done with non-conference games against Florida State and Wisconsin in the first three weeks, and then a balanced breakfast from Week 5 to Week 13 that begins at Georgia, vs. Vandy, at Missouri, vs. Tennessee, at South Carolina and ends with home matchups against LSU and Oklahoma. By then, we'll know who is playing for what in the Iron Bowl.
[Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]
Alabama Win Total Odds: Over 9.5 (-114) Under 9.5 (-106)