Before The Season
During the 2007–2008 campaign, the Crimson Tide completed a 6–6 regular season record with their most notable wins coming over No. 16 Arkansas and longtime rival Tennessee. The Tide went on to win their final game against Colorado (30–24) in the Independence Bowl to finish with a 7–6 record. In June 2009, the NCAA Committee on Infractions sanctioned Alabama for "major violations" of NCAA policies as a result of athletes who received improper benefits in 16 of 19 NCAA sports, including football. As part of the penalties imposed, the football program was forced to vacate five victories from the 2007 season making the official 2007 record 2–6.
In February 2008, Alabama signed the No. 1 recruiting class according to both Rivals and Scout. Spring practice began on March 13 and concluded with the annual A-Day spring game on April 12. Before a crowd of 78,200, the Crimson team defeated the White team by a score of 24–14 in Bryant–Denny Stadium. For their performances, Alfred McCullough earned the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of the A-Day Game Award and Terry Grant earned the Dixie Howell Memorial Most Valuable Player of the A-Day Game Award.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Team
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“When we reached the lake, about half past eight in the evening, it was still steadily raining, and harder than before; and, in that fresh, cool atmosphere, the hylodes were peeping and the toads ringing about the lake universally, as in the spring with us. It was as if the season had revolved backward two or three months, or I had arrived at the abode of perpetual spring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)