For the previous two seasons -- and honestly, for the majority of several seasons before that -- the rest of the SEC was chasing Alabama.
Everyone will open the 2016 season as the Crimson Tide's pursuers, again, although only a few teams are legitimate threats to catch up to Nick Saban's juggernaut. Over the next several days, we'll take a look at the Tide's fellow SEC contenders and their cases for overtaking Alabama in the upcoming season.
We begin the series now with SEC West rival Arkansas:
How they can beat Alabama: The Razorbacks have steadily improved under coach Bret Bielema and gave Alabama all it could handle last season in Tuscaloosa.