No one ever said repeating would be easy.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are aware. In addition to dealing with fairly significant personnel losses, especially on defense, there's that pesky Southeastern Conference -- the league with four different champions in this six-BCS-titles-in-a-row run -- with which to reckon.
It's familiar territory for Nick Saban's team. One of the themes for this season will be how it separates itself from the 2010 team that entered that season as the prohibitive favorite but ultimately lost three games and saw the rival Auburn Tigers win the title.
Still, the Crimson Tide have to be considered one of the chief contenders in 2012, along with LSU and USC, even if there are questions to answer in Tuscaloosa. Here's a look at six potential roadblocks that the Tide will have to circumnavigate this fall.
To read more from Travis Haney on why Alabama could have its repeat bid derailed, become an ESPN Insider today.
Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
