Just A Minute: The New Certainty of Football is Less Predictability, Even for Alabama

Alabama struggled to get a win against Florida, again.

Clemson and Ohio State have already lost.

Oklahoma has looked shaky as well.

Welcome to the new age of football, where everyone screams for parity and different teams in the College Football Playoff, and then wonders what's wrong when it looks like it'll happen.

Yes, the Crimson Tide struggled at The Swamp last week. The team that nearly beat Alabama in the SEC Championship last year only lost by two points this time when having one of the best home-field advantages in sports.

No one should have been shocked.

Chalk it up to being a possible good thing for the Crimson Tide because it needed a wake-up call, especially with Ole Miss and Texas A&M looming on the schedule. The Rebels are off this week and are already giving their full attention to making Alabama's lives miserable — something that Lane Kiffin is very good at.

But every team has major, big-time questions right now, from Georgia's injuries and problems on offense, to Notre Dame barely beating Florida State and Toledo. Everyone's adjusting to the new transfer rules, the distractions from NIL and playing in front of crowds again.

Something similar is going on in the pros, too, where it seems like nearly every game has been close.

Through two weeks, the NFL season has already seen 10 games decided by a field goal or less. That's one shy of the league record.

More movement, more turnover means more uncertainly, especially on the front end of the subsequent season, and now everyone has more than ever.

Jimbo Fisher, who has already lost his starting quarterback due to an injury, said on the Paul Finebaum Show this week: "When you're constantly rolling over your team, you're going to have growing pains."

Besides, it's still September. Conference titles and the national championship will be won by the teams that adjust, adapt and improve the most from here on out.