re: What age did you realistically see where you team stood nationally

I grew up knowing about Bear Bryant, and Bama's national prominence in my early years (till age 8).

Seeing the Perkins/Curry years was tough, b/c we were still relevant but overshadowed by Miami, FSU, Notre Dame, etc. Hell, even BYU, GA Tech, and Colorado won a NT during those years.

So when Curry had us at 10-0 and ranked #2 I was sky high, and sure that everyone in the nation feared BAMA again. I guess my bragging was a bit too much for my yankee health ed. teacher, and he told me no one else in the country followed BAMA. (He was from Wisconsin). Only BAMA fans thought we ruled the universe....I never even considered that possibility (beyond AU fans).

He made his point by asking me what Wisconsin's record was that year. He said something like, "only those fans care about Wisky, and only BAMA fans care about BAMA." I think he oversimplified, but it was eye-opening. Even prepared me for dealing with years and years of mediocrity--minus 1992 and some other Stallings teams, until Saban arrived.