Theoretically, anytime your team is coming off of a Championship, the level of stress and anxiety should be lower. However, that wasn't the case, at least for me personally, during the previous 2 title defenses that I was able to witness in my lifetime. The 2003 leadup was filled with nothing but anxiety of the Mo Clarett situation. In 2015, the expectations of a repeat plus the QB battle were daily talking points. 

It seems that we all, myself included, are at a much higher level of "peace" entering this season. The threads aren't overpopulated with topics debating every bad pass that a QB throws in drills, or analyzing whether or not it was a good thing that Arvelle Reese threw a knockout punch to Carson Hinzman during practice. We aren't in panic mode that Siereveld in taking snaps at LT, because there is absolutely no other explanation other than Ethan Onianwa sucks, right?? All of this paired with the facts that:

1. We have a QB battle between guys that have barely played
2. We open with the #1 ranked team in the country
3. We replace the OC, OL coach, and DC
4. We have a brutal schedule littered with trap games. Washington is going to be much better. Illinois is a sneaky team. Wisconsin should be better. Those games combined with the obvious matchup games like Texas, PSU, and TTUN. 

There are several things for me to be stressed about, but for some reason, I'm just not that worried about it. The 12 Team CFP definitely helps. I know for a fact I'd already be losing sleep in the pre-playoff era knowing that our Natty hopes could be over before September even starts. 

But even then, I don't think it is just the 12 team playoff that is letting me enter this season much more relaxed. Even when we all thought Houston's injury was a worst case scenario, I remained pretty calm. 

Don't get me wrong, when the night of the 29th rolls around, I won't be getting much sleep. But regardless, I can easily say that I have never in my life been this relaxed entering a season. I think part of it is the ghost that was Alabama. When we won in 2014, my mind instantly jumped to "Ok we have to be the next Alabama". It was like OSU needed to continue winning titles to officially claim the spot as the best in America. And when that didn't happen, and programs like Clemson and Georgia surpassed us, it felt terrible. I think that in this new era, we will never see a run like Alabama had ever again, and that is allowing me to appreciate the singular title in 2024 much more, and not feel like we "need" to win it all again this year to maintain a spot at the head of the table. 

Narrator: 4 weeks from this post about being calm, JTForPresident2016 would go on to slur every curse word in the book at the TV over one slightly overthrown pass.