Not sure if you guys heard or not, but according to the Press-Register's Gentry Estes, Dont'a Hightower got his year back from last year and will be a sophomore this season. That may not mean anything, because he can still declare for the draft as a 3rd year sophomore, but it's interesting nonetheless.

I honestly didn't think he would get the year back, because he was right on the cut line, but it's good to see he did.

I hope you all enjoyed my all time Alabama offense a couple weeks ago. It took me a little longer than I thought to put together the all time defense.

I've been pretty busy lately and just recently had the time to sit down and do it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one as well. Here's the link to the post on isportsweb

http://isportsweb.com/2010/05/25/all-time-alabama-defense/

http://tinyurl.com/26x9nog

Hey now everyone, I just did a post on isportsweb.com of the All-Time Alabama offense, and I was looking for any and all feedback. I know this site is chock full of diehard Alabama fans, all wanting to let their opinions be known.

Please, give it a read and let me know what you think. I would greatly appreciate it. I'm sure there are varying opinions on this matter.

Thanks,

John

Alabama headed into Lexington on Tuesday night for the final game of their big three game stretch. The Crimson Tide had lost the previous two of those games falling at home by a single point to Florida, and blowing a 20 point lead in Oxford Saturday night in a loss to Ole Miss. Alabama was looking for a signature win for the season as they faced off with #2 Kentucky. They were also looking to end a bitter three game losing streak, with all three games being ones the Tide should have come out on top in.

The battle pitted the best offensive team in the SEC, Kentucky up against the best defensive team in the SEC, Alabama. But the story of the night wasn’t the Kentucky offense or the Alabama defense; it was the Kentucky defense that stole the show. Kentucky forced Alabama into their worst shooting night of the season, just 33% from the field.

To read the rest of this article go here:

http://isportsweb.com/2010/02/10/alabama-drops-fourth-straight-in-lexington/

You’ll have to forgive me for being a little late with this recap, I couldn’t possibly write this yesterday with the level of anger that was flowing inside of me following the game last night. According to angermanagementresource.com, there are ten levels of anger. I read through the levels, and throughout this recap I’ll let you know where my anger level was at that time.

Alabama came in to Oxford, Mississippi last night looking to snap a two game losing streak after two one point losses to Auburn and Florida. It was the second game of the toughest three game stretch of the season for the Crimson Tide and they were sitting at 0-1 so far and looking for another signature SEC win to go along with their win over Mississippi State on January 23rd.

Alabama got off to a quick start taking a 40-20 first half lead and in my opinion; it was the best first half the Crimson Tide had put together all year and it came as a surprise to me the way they were playing. Mikhail Torrance was running the show better than he had ever before and the Tide were showing the kind of potential they had. At this point, my anger level was a 0, I was the happiest I had been all year watching Alabama basketball.

To read the rest of this article go here:

http://isportsweb.com/2010/02/07/alabama-blows-20-point-halftime-lead-in-oxford/

Coming off a one point loss in Auburn on Saturday afternoon, the Crimson Tide came back to Coleman looking for a big win to start the big three game stretch. Instead, the Crimson Tide suffered their second consecutive one point loss as Anthony Grant fell just short against his former team.

It marked another bitter defeat for the Tide as they have proved that they aren’t quite ready to seriously compete in the SEC, although a one point loss at the hands of Florida is nothing to be that upset with. But, it is a loss that likely won’t happen in future years with Anthony Grant on the bench. Alabama is close, but they aren’t there yet and will need Grant to bring in recruits to improve their depth.

The Crimson Tide once again took a lead to the half at 37-33, but like we have seen on numerous occasions this season, they couldn’t hold on to the lead in the second half. Florida took the lead with a little over six minutes left and held it until Mikhail Torrance hit a jumper with 42-seconds left to give the Crimson Tide a 65-64 lead.

To read the rest of this article go here:

http://isportsweb.com/2010/02/04/alabama-suffers-second-straight-one-point-loss/

Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant will get his first crack at a team where he was once an assistant coach and ace recruiter. Grant was a Florida assistant under Billy Donovan from 1996-2006 after following Donovan to Gainesville from Marshall where he was brought in as an assistant in 1994. Grant left Florida following the first of their back to back National Championships to become the head coach of Virginia Commonwealth. He spent three years as the head coach of the Rams compiling a 76-25 record and leading them to two NCAA tournament bids in his three year run that included a win over Duke in the 2007 tournament.

After leading VCU back to the NCAA tournament last year, Grant left to come to Tuscaloosa to become the head coach of the Crimson Tide. So far in Grant’s first season the Tide are stuck in a rebuilding process and their NCAA tournament hopes are looking very dim following their one point loss in Auburn Saturday.

To read the rest of this article go here:

http://isportsweb.com/2010/02/04/grant-going-against-mentor/

"

For the third consecutive season, Nick Saban has brought in a top five recruiting class to Tuscaloosa. A top five class used to be a pipe dream for the Crimson Tide before Saban came to the Capstone, now it’s expected. The Crimson Tide had a chance to make even a bigger splash on the recruiting trail this season, but they weren’t able to land three big recruits, Shon Coleman, James Stone, or Keenan Allen. Even without those three guys, the Tide put together a very strong class. ESPN has Alabama ranked 3rd in recruiting, scout.com has them 4th, while rivals.com has them 5th, but I wouldn’t trust rivals.com too much at the moment considering they have USC sitting in the top five and I don’t see the Trojans any higher than 7th or 8th."

Read the rest here:

http://isportsweb.com/2010/02/03/alabama-pulls-in-third-straight-top-five-class/

Six years ago, Alabama was under a tough probation that crippled the program for the time being, even taking away scholarships that hurt the future of the program as well. The future was looking dark as Mike Shula patrolled the sidelines of Bryant-Denny Stadium, and Alabama was nothing more than a middle-tier SEC school. A promising 2005 season saw Alabama start 9-0 and finish 10-2, and once again a glee of light began to peer into the program. But, that was nothing more than false hope as the Tide regressed the next year going just 6-7 along with a fifth consecutive loss to arch-rival Auburn and that spelled the end of the Mike Shula era in Tuscaloosa. Then, hope arose through as Mal Moore made a lucrative offer to lure a former National Championship winning coach in Nick Saban to the Capstone. You could see the excitement by a fan-base that hadn't had anything to cheer about since 1999 as over 92,000 people showed up for the A-Day game.

The 2007 season was a roller coaster season for the Tide as they started off 6-2 before faltering down the stretch with four consecutive losses including an embarrassing loss to Louisiana-Monroe and a sixth consecutive defeat at the hands of Auburn. Bitterness arose from Alabama fans as they were being extremely impatient, I even overheard another "fan" say that Saban was a waste of money.

That chatter quickly stopped as Saban reeled in the Nation's #1 ranked recruiting class and more optimism began to arise in Tuscaloosa and the Nation began to take notice. Alabama came into 2008 though with high expectations, but they far exceeded what was expected. The Crimson Tide ran through the SEC finishing 12-0 in the regular season including big wins over Clemson, Georgia, LSU, and breaking the six game losing streak by blowing out Auburn 36-0. The season didn't end like most had hoped as Alabama was defeated by Florida in the SEC Championship game, derailing their National Title hopes, and losing to Utah in the Sugar Bowl to cap Saban's second year with a 12-2 record.

The thought of a National Championship hadn't peered into Alabama fans heads in a long time, and even at the start of the 2009 season, many didn't expect this to be the Tide team that did so, with Tim Tebow returning for his senior season in Gainesville. Most expected Alabama's season to end the same way it did in 2008, with a loss to Florida in the SEC Championship game, but hopefully they could have a better showing in the Sugar Bowl.

There were a ton of question marks for Alabama this season with the biggest being the three new starters on the offensive line along with a new QB in Greg McElroy taking over for a three year starter in John Parker Wilson. Still, Alabama began the preseason in the top five as a date with Virginia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A College Football Kickoff in the Georgia Dome, the same venue that they began last season with a 34-10 win over Clemson that paved the way to an unbeaten regular season.

To read the rest of this article go here