Paul Finebaum explains Alabama's mindset change, public desire to win

While speaking on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Paul Finebaum broke down why Alabama‘s mindset has become championship or bust as opposed to “one game at a time.” Former Alabama champion Greg McElroy asked Finebaum if he felt like Alabama’s staff spoke more about championship goals now than any season before — stating that they’re focusing on the bigger picture instead of a week-by-week mentality in interviews.

Finebaum stated that he believes the championship-or-bust talk is a direct result of their success under Nick Saban — and that the best comparison is the dominance of Tiger Woods at his peak.

Paul Finebaum on Alabama’s mindset

“I think it’s the pure volume,” said Finebaum of the increased championship talk. “To me, Greg, you can continue to look for examples of ‘where is Alabama’ at this point. You had the good fortune of being on the first national championship team. It had been so long since Alabama had won one that fans were happy to be in the conversation.

“This reminds me very much, if you go back about 20, maybe a little more than 20 years ago on the PGA golf tour — when Tiger Woods was literally competing with himself and Jack Nicklaus. If Tiger did not win the tournament, it was a big story. Because he was always in contention, especially in the majors, and he was the whole story.

“And I know that others don’t want to hear this but in many ways, when you talk about college football today — there is Alabama, and in parenthesis Nick Saban, and everyone else. It doesn’t matter whether Georgia won last year or not, it’s still about Alabama because when the polls come out today and whenever the AP poll comes out, Alabama is number one. That’s the part about last year that can’t be forgotten. Alabama was the preseason number one pick in a rebuilding year. Alabama, yeah they compete against everybody else, but they really [are] competing against themselves.”

As Finebaum highlights, the question facing Alabama every offseason isn’t necessarily whether or not they’re the best team, but instead does another team seem more likely than them? With the increased expectations, Saban and his staff know that anything less than a title is considered a “bad year” by their standards — and embracing that has become part of Alabama football culture.