Having held out to mid-January, and lacking the ability to stem the flood of repeat-championship fever pouring over the dam since the announcement that Jonathan Allen (and perhaps other juniors as well) will return for the 2016 football season, let's take a look at one of the variables that will determine whether the University of Alabama football team can do it again.
The schedule.
As with every too-early look into the future, this one comes with all sorts of "reader beware" cautions and caveats. Think back a year ago. Would anyone have guessed at that time that road games at Georgia, Texas A&M and Auburn would yield convincing victories, while a home game against Ole Miss (without Laramy Tunsil) would be the lone blemish on a 15-game schedule?