I'm just not impressed with this year's Bama team. Are they a good team? Sure, I'd say they've earned that with the current lead over the #1 team in the nation, but they aren't DOMINANT. The only thing that comes close is their run defense. The secondary sucks and the offense is hit or miss.
As far as the ESS EEE SEE stuff goes, I don't see any of the other conferences with standout teams either. The whole landscape of college football is just down this year from what it's been. There's a lot more parity.