Five years ago, Alabama and LSU hijacked the 2011 college football season, staging not one but two No. 1 vs. 2 games, the latter marking the beginning of the end for the ill-fated BCS. Most of the public outside the Southeast revolted at not just the rematch but seemingly dinosaur offenses. However, a staggering 45 eventual NFL draft picks – including 14 first-rounders – played in those games. The teams were that good. I’m predicting a near-repeat scenario in 2016. Defending national champ Alabama is an easy pick to represent the conference yet again in this year’s College Football Playoff. We can nitpick the Tide’s potential flaws – a potentially untested quarterback (if redshirt freshman Blake Barnett or true freshman Jalen Hurts beat out veteran Cooper Bateman), inexperienced running backs (sophomores Bo Scarborough and Damien Harris), the void left by Outland Trophy-winning center Ryan Kelly. End of day, these guys are still loaded, most notably in the front seven, where Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne, Dalvin Tomlinson, Da’Shawn Hand and Tim Williams will take turns flooding into opposing backfields. The more intriguing team to watch, though, will be LSU, whose national championship coach, Les Miles, got walked to the very end of the plank late last season before the school president stepped in and saved his job. This is shaping up to be the rare instance where a coach on the hot seat is presiding over a potential national champion. - See more at: http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...e-the-college-football-playoff-in-2016-081516
