I thought I would move on to the next most important part of life in Baldwin County (besides politics and religion) which we all know to be SEC college football.

If anyone were to guess the outcome of the 2008-2009 college football season early this August, most likely their guess would have been incorrect.

Living in the south, I’m instinctively attracted to the SEC more than any other college football conference in America.

As it usually does, the SEC has had its share of shocking games this season and is still churning out nail-biters and nothing less than unpredictable outcomes.

With this year’s football season coming to a close, all I can do is stand back in awe.

Probably the team that has turned the most heads in the SEC this year would be the Alabama Crimson Tide.

With a flawless 11-0 record, Nick Saban has definitely turned this football team around faster than I would have expected.

Alabama continues to have a stable attitude and pattern on all sides of the ball. I’m utterly amazed how different this team looks with only one previous season under Saban’s belt.

When it all started with the dominating win over No. 9 Clemson in the season opener at the Georgia Dome, college football-goers sensed a magical feeling in the Crimson Tide’s new team.

Yet, the thought of returning to Georgia and knocking off the No. 3 Bulldogs was doubtful.

Witnessing the first half, and watching Alabama walk into the locker-room at halftime with a 31-0 lead was a flattering surprise beyond words.

Yet, the surprises did not stop there. After a scare from Kentucky, Alabama eased into their first of two bye-weeks, with fans realizing their seemingly invincible team was still human. With what was looking to be an easy win over Ole Miss with Bama ahead 24-3 at halftime, the Crimson Tide failed to show up in the second half.

They luckily held on for dear life and walked out of the stadium with a closer than desired final score of 24-20.

With a victory-hungry, desperate Tennessee team scheduled to play the week after, the chance of a perfect season seemed as though it was likely to come to an end. Yet, the mighty Crimson Tide fought all four quarters and became 8-0 with a 29-9 win over the Volunteers.

With Alabama’s homecoming game going over smoothly with a 35-0 shutout over Arkansas State, before anybody knew it, maybe the biggest game of the year in the SEC, and the most long awaited game in Baton Rouge, was only a week away.

And with tensions rising about Saban’s return to his stomping grounds of the past, the hyped talk about this college football showdown was unbelievable.

Saban and his No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide broke the five-year losing streak to LSU with nothing short of a battle in the trenches.

This sounds ridiculous, but I was emotionally and physically exhausted after watching that game.

With both teams struggling on offense and forcing constant turnovers, it was neck-to-neck almost the entirety of the game.

When it was tied 21-21 with three seconds left in the fourth quarter and Alabama’s Leigh Tiffin was lining up to kick a 29-yard field goal to win the game, the fans dressed in Crimson seated in Death Valley were already beginning to celebrate.

But to their dismay, the Tiger stadium roared in ecstatic excitement when the field goal was blocked and the game was thrown into overtime.

Honestly, I thought we had lost the game, considering that facing LSU in overtime in their own backyard was nearly close to impossible. Yet after Alabama won the toss, Rashad Johnson received his third and most important interception of the game, leaving the Tigers scoreless.

The first pass was to none other than Julio Jones and after fighting to gain more yards, was brought down on the two yard line. Two plays later, the Alabama Crimson Tide became 10-0, clenched a spot in the SEC Championship in Atlanta against Florida, and shattered the LSU Tigers and fans hopes of beating Saban when John Parker Wilson dove into the long awaited inzone.

A week later, I happened to travel up to Tuscaloosa with my Dad to witness the Alabama and Mississippi State game.

After a night of interesting plays, such as a blocked punt by Alabama that ended up as a safety, an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown by Javier Arenas, and so on, I was pleased to see the scoreboard gleam a final score of 32-7.

With a respectable and mostly dominating win over Sylvester Croom and the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the Alabama Crimson Tide returns to another bye-week with the Auburn Tigers on their mind.

Although Auburn has had a disappointing season, the Iron Bowl never falls short of surprising. With nothing to lose, and Alabama with everything to lose while fighting for a perfect regular season and a chance at the National Championship, Auburn has only one thing on their mind: Upset.

I’m curious to see what happens in this extremely important game, but something tells me it will be very interesting to watch.

Basch Jernigan is a ninth grade student at Gulf Shores High School. His column is published in The Islander once a month. He welcomes all questions, comments and opinions and can be reached at basch@gulftel.com.