When Alabama heads to College Station on Saturday, it will find itself in an all-too-familiar position: facing an opponent that was idle the week before.
Call it a conspiracy theory or bad scheduling luck, but since Nick Saban took over as Alabama's head coach, the Crimson Tide have faced more teams with a rest advantage than any other team in the country.
Alabama fans don't need to be reminded of the 2010 season, when the Tide's final six SEC opponents were coming off byes, but the trend goes well beyond one season. Since the start of 2007, Alabama has played 25 games against teams with at least a five-day rest advantage (games in which Alabama's opponent had a bye and it did not), 10 more than any other team in the nation.