Alabama claims Dirty Dozen National Titles but knows better

Originally Published: Dec 15, 2009 9:27 PM CDT

Picking up five foot putts gets under my skin. How do you establish a true handicap? Football players who run the forty in 4.7 and claim they run 4.5s bug me. And Alabama claiming twelve national titles in football really bugs me.

Nothing at all against the program. Truth is I love Alabama...almost played there...great fans...tradition...uniforms.

But Alabama is not UAB, or Troy or Chopped Liver U. Let those places claim national titles from groups like the Northside Y. But you don't lay claim to those if you are the Crimson Tide. Claim something truly earned and truly honored by everyone else in the college football world.  

Alabama is the heart and soul of college football. Southern Gentlemen. And Gentle Ladies. They know better than claim The Dirty Dozen.  They don't need to exaggerate the facts.

And the facts are that since Alabama began playing football back in 1892, they've won seven National Championships--same as USC and OU.  Notre Dame leads the way with eight. If things go the way most of us expect,  the Irish will have company in a few weeks.

These days you win national titles only one of two ways. By receiving the most votes in the final AP poll, or by winning the BCS Championship Series championship game (the USA Today Coaches' Poll is a poll of American Football Coaches Association active coaches who are contractually obligated to name the winner of the BCS title games as its champ.)

Alabama has won 7 AP championships-- 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992. But the school also claims 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, and 1941 as national championship years because they were named by "polls" such as BR, BS, CFRA, HAF, HS, NCF, PS, and others that are not recognized.

Unfortunately, Alabama is not the only school to stretch the facts for promotion reasons. Notre Dame and USC claim 11 NCs for reasons like Alabama. But Oklahoma claims 7 even though they have been named NCs 17 times by other polls.

If you are looking for a good laugh, look up some of the groups who have named Alabama and others national titles. It's funny until you realize the school and fans and some in the media promote such lunacy.  For example:  From 1924-1940 you had the Dickinson System. Others include Casper Whitney,  DeVold System, Dunkel, Eck Ratings, Houlgate, Litkenhous, Massey, Matthews, Poling System, etc.

True Alabamans don't pick up five foot putts. And they admit that they now run 5.4 forties and never ran 4.5s. So if you beat Texas, let's not hear it's 13. Eight Is Enough. Go with that and you'll sleep better for putting out. Even Tiger putts out.