Inquiring minds want to know: Which is the real Alabama football team?

The 10-3, SEC champions of 1999? Or the 3-8 team of 2000, which lost its final five games?

The players were pretty much the same in both seasons. The schedule, other than a season-opening trip to UCLA, was not much different. The coaching staff didn't go through any major upheavals between the seasons.

So which team was real, and which was a Crimson Tide fan's dream/nightmare?

Perhaps this fall, Alabama fans will find out. Much still is the same: There still are plenty of veterans from that SEC Championship team around, and the schedule still is the typical schedule of the SEC Western Division (plus a season-opening game with UCLA, this time in the much more favorable confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium).

The big change? A new head coach, a new coaching staff, and a new attitude.

"I think this team was hungry for direction and a vision," said the new man in charge, 50-year-old Dennis Franchione. "And one of my most pleasant surprises has been how well they've accepted us and gone to work for us.

"What's been inspiring to us has been the players' attitudes, their approach to things. They've been very willing to do what we've asked them, and they seem to enjoy it."

The problem for impatient Alabama fans is the potential for overestimating the talent that Franchione inherits.

While the Tide returns seven starters on offense and seven on defense (more if you add in sometimes starters nosetackle David Daniel and pass-rush end Aries Monroe), Franchione -- in the fine po' mouthin' tradition of The Bear -- insists this team isn't as talented as the one he coached at TCU (10-1) last year.

"I'm told that at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the school with the most players represented was Florida State, with nine," Franchione said. "The second most was TCU with eight. So I'd say, from that standpoint, that was a pretty good team at TCU.

"We have some talent, though. I think what concerns you the most when you look at everything is depth. Injuries can make you thin in a hurry. We're youthful in spots, so we have some of that to deal with. We just need time in our system to see what we have."

Franchione's offense is a mixture of option with a four-wide passing attack. The option forces defenses to play more base pass coverage, designed to open the passing attack and make it simpler for quarterbacks and receivers to read and adjust.

The most hotly debated question among Tide fans for three years now is at quarterback, where Andrew Zow and Tyler Watts have had their supporters and detractors, their good games and their bad.

Zow and Watts left spring practice with their names back at the top of the list (walk-on Jonathan Richey and highly recruited freshman Brodie Croyle are competing, too), with the battle expected to extend through the first few weeks of fall practice.

"I've said this over and over, but I want a quarterback who will take care of the football," Franchione said. "I don't want a quarterback who can make big plays if you don't know which team he's going to be making the big plays for. More games are lost than won, and the first thing I want to establish is that we don't lose games by beating ourselves."

Defensively, Franchione has turned to former University of North Carolina head coach Carl Torbush, who earned the reputation as one of college football's top defensive coordinators at UNC before succeeding Mack Brown as head coach two years ago.

The best news for Tide fans on the defensive side of the ball is the return of ends Kenny King and Kindal Moorehead, both of whom missed games last fall because of injuries. The versatile Jarret Johnson, who can play end or tackle, returns, as do experienced defensive linemen such as Daniel, Monroe, Derek Sanders, Nautyn McKay-Loescher, Antwan Odom, and huge sophomore Anthony Bryant (6-3, 350), who was academically ineligible last year.

Two-year starter Saleem Rasheed returns, although he will move to middle linebacker. Last year's starting middle linebacker, Victor Ellis, moves to Rasheed's outside linebacker position. Sophomore Brooks Daniels has been impressive at the other outside linebacker, and senior Darius Gilbert has been a consistent presence at outside linebacker for three years.

The secondary has talent, with the return of sophomore Gerald Dixon, junior Hirchel Bolden and redshirt freshman Thurman Ward at cornerback. Senior Reggie Myles steps in at free safety, and Shontua Ray is the frontrunner at strong safety.

"By December, we have a chance to be a much better team," Franchione said. "What that means overall, however, is tough to get a handle on right now."

Lindy's Football Annuals (National, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, plus Pro) are available at newsstands regionally, or can be ordered as a set at www.lindyssports.com, or by calling 1-205-871-1182.