There’s something special about game day in the SEC. The pageantry, tradition and, recently, dominance of Southern football pulses through stadiums across the conference each fall. Each program has its own past and level of devotion, but it’s when they collide that passions reach their peak.
Alabama football is no different. Games played against teams outside of the conference simply have a different atmosphere. Whether it’s lopsided contests, common out-of-conference or games meant to test the squad’s mettle, the familiar undertones between opponents, some of whom have played each other since the SEC’s founding in 1932, cannot be replicated. There is, however, history between the Crimson Tide and foreign opponents that does exist.
Perhaps Alabama’s greatest out-of-state rivalry still in existence has pitted them against Penn State’s Nittany Lions since 1959’s Liberty Bowl. Though 2010’s 24-3 victory revived the 20-years dormant face-off to a raucous Bryant-Denny Stadium, the intensity audibly dimmed as the game slipped overwhelmingly into the Tide’s favor. Their rivalry is not built on the hatred-fueling bouts like those against Auburn, Tennessee or now, perhaps, LSU. The distance between the two schools, literally, as well as culturally, is too great.
Out-of-conference games pay dividends in football terms but can’t inspire the same passions. Showdowns such as this year’s season-opener against the Michigan Wolverines set important reference points for a team playing in the BCS era. Any game provides opportunities to sharpen aspects of their game and test their players, and, of course, any loss is potentially devastating to national championship or bowl game aspirations. Despite that, the second halves of this year’s nonconference home games against Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic could not be compared to the highs and lows of any other game. Unless there’s a major change in disposition across Tuscaloosa, the game against the 1-9 Western Carolina Catamounts may devolve into muted murmurs, as well.
SEC teams are family, for better or worse, and often times, literally. Neighbors, families and households are divided by SEC battle lines. Familiarity and contempt are bred equally at bars and tailgates on Saturdays. It’s often written that football is the religion of the South, and that pious devotion only lends strength to bonds spread across the conference. This is sometimes expressed through obscene chants and fights, but then, sometimes, through acts such as the outpouring of support of the SEC devout following Tuscaloosa’s April 27 tornado, even and especially from Auburn fans.
Family is difficult to compete with. There will always be points of intrigue, such as Kent State last season and their tornado recovery support and Saban relations earning them a rare Bryant-Denny round of applause to greet the visiting team, and there is also the coach’s newsworthy tirade against the media’s disrespect for Western Kentucky this September. Yet, still, they are small incongruities.
Simply put, and assuming a Saturday night victory, “Hey, Catamounts” won’t quite have the same ring or volume in the Rammer Jammer as a Tiger, Vol or Bulldog. Sports are defined by their strategies and players, but brought alive by context. The context of Saturday night looks to be the lull before the storm that is the Iron Bowl next week.
