That’s not a simple task, but here is one possibility: Watch the end of the game, regardless of who wins or in what manner, and gauge the reaction of the players and coaches and most certainly those of the fans. That will provide some idea. It will be gauged somewhere between exhilaration and depression, relief and disappointment, winning and losing.
Saturday’s Iron Bowl is expected by many to be a ho-hum affair, merely Alabama’s next win on its way to the SEC championship game and probably the College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide is a 14-point favorite, boasts the best defense in the country and a leading Heisman candidate and would like nothing better than a big win at Jordan-Hare Stadium.