Alabama vs. Texas, The New Rivalry?

Alabama vs. Texas Tech, The New Rivalry?

Matt Conde

Sports Editor

The strength of a football schedule is made-up by non-conference games, especially in the SEC. Alabama has seen new opponents within the last few years including Clemson and Virginia Tech. This year they will see the face of a well-magnified Penn State led by Joe Paterno. Other SEC schools have seen tough non-conference opponents as well. Now unless you are Florida or South Carolina, there really is no other school in the SEC that has a “rival” non-conference opponent.

Alabama is in the process of putting together their non-conference football schedule for the 2012 season. Guess who is in the talks, The Red Raiders of Texas Tech led by their new coach, Tommy Tubberville. As we are all well aware of, Tubby came from Alabama’s biggest rival, Auburn. He put together an impressive resume against Alabama, held up six fingers, and then he disappeared. He went under the radar when Alabama landed football guru, Nick Saban. Although Tubby did beat Saban’s Alabama team once, it never happened again. So are Alabama officials creating a new rivalry, or is Saban making a statement? A statement that says you cannot outcoach me wherever you go, or is this a game to reclaim that forfeited bowl victory from the 2005 season? Yet, turn the tables, is this going to be a game where Tubby can “Gun Up” his fingers in the air like the Raider faithful do, or is this going to be a hard learning lesson for the Tide? I can’t answer any of these questions just yet. However, I will tell you that this non-conference game will be viewed like two SEC powerhouses colliding on any given Saturday.

What team will Auburn fans pull for in a possible Texas Tech vs. Alabama football matchup? I’ll leave that for you to answer below.