Over the weekend, I got in a debate about the Labor Day weekend game between the University of Michigan and University of Alabama at Cowboy Stadium. My opponent said that the Alabama media is over-looking the Wolverines and that Brady Hoke will have his fully prepared to take on the Crimson Tide. Alabama is now a 14 point favorite over the Wolverines, but lost many of their defensive standouts from last year's national championship team. My opponent also pointed to their average quarterback and the loss of All-American running back Trent Richardson.

While all of those are valid points, I think many people forget that this is Alabama. In 2008, their running back was Glen Coffee, a future 3rd round pick of the San Francisco 49ers. He rushed for 1,383 yards and 10 touchdowns and was named to the All-SEC First Team. How in the world would they replace him? Well, in stepped Mark Ingram, a future Heisman Trophy winner. He ran for 2,581 yards and 30 touchdowns in two years as a starter. After he went to the NFL, Alabama surely would have had a down year at the position, right? Wrong. Trent Richardson did not miss a step en route to a 1,740 yards and 21 touchdown campaign. But he is now gone to the Cleveland Browns. Well, as the tradition goes, Eddie Lacy is the next in line for the starting running back spot. As far as last year, all he did was rush for 694 yards ... on 95 carries. That's an average of 7.1 yards per carry for those of you who didn't want to do the math on your own. Think he will miss a beat? I wouldn't be too sure.

The point is that teams like Alabama, LSU and USC reload every year. The do not have down years, either recruiting or on the field. I'm not saying that Michigan does not have a chance in this game, because they do. Denard Robinson can, at any moment, break a 70-yard run for six points. But to say that Alabama lost so much talent that they won't be the same team as last year is not giving much credit to Alabama and Nick Saban. And I think, by now, they deserve that much.