Not since Forrest Gump was recruited out of Greenbow, has there been so much excitement about Alabama football.

The Crimson Tide arrive in Athens this weekend with a legendary head coach (just ask him) a vaunted running game and all the history of quite possibly the all time best program ever in college football. That's right, I'll repeat. Quite possibly the all time best program ever in college football. I know that comes as a shock to you Gator fans that I would make a statement like that, but there was football before Steve Spurrier in the swamp. Check the record books. Ya'll sucked.

Anyway...

Here come Alabama! And as much as we give Bama fans and their passion for the game a hard time, it's difficult not to respect how they have turned things around. Since Gene Stallings left the program the revolving door of head coaches would have made George Steinbrenner scratch his head. There's been Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchoine, Mike Price, Mike Shula, Joe Kines and now St. Nick. Why? Because they have all lived in the shadow of the Bear who led the Tide to six national titles in the 60's and 70's and in the shadow of Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas before Bryant. All in all, Alabama has won 12 national championships.

To best understand how things work in Tuscaloosa, consider this: Here in the great state of Georgia (and we are the best in the nation by far, in by biased view), we have the Georgia Bulldogs, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and another team that I heard plays football off of North Avenue in Atlanta, but the name escapes me right now.

In Alabama they have the Crimson Tide and Auburn. That's it.

With all due respect to Auburn, Alabama is the premier program. The Crimson Tide are the New York Yankees of the state. So if the t-shirts that says "Got Nick?" make you snicker, then keep in mind this is the biggest thing going in the state. And there is nothing wrong with that.

So combine, the legend of Alabama, the passion of their fans, the fact that College Gameday will be in Athens, the Dawgs wearing black, two top 10 teams, and a night game at Sanford Stadium...and you have all the makings of what should be a memorable night between the hedges. Let's just hope its good memories for the Dawgs. And if that is the case, celebrate long and hard and intervene with any Alabama fan who contemplates committing suicide.