Don't rule anything out when it comes to expanding the Crimson Tide brand

A few years ago, just after Nick Saban became the head coach at Alabama, I decided to conduct an experiment while vacationing in Canada.

Normally I couldn't wear anything saying Crimson Tide on it because I covered the football team, but one day in Montreal I decided to do so to see how long it would take anyone to notice. It was going to be for a work-related blog entry, but I heard no cries of "Roll Tide" and that was that.

Somehow I get the feeling that if I did it again the same wouldn't occur today. Three subsequent national championships will do that for a football program, especially one steeped in tradition like Alabama.

According to Collegiate Licensing Company's rankings last year the top 10 sellers in merchandise were:

1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Michigan
4. Notre Dame
5. Georgia
6. Florida
7. LSU
8. Florida State
9. Texas A&M
10. North Carolina

I was reminded of this today with the enclosed photo form the 2015 IIHF Men's World Championship   being played in the Czech Republic. The guy on the right, looking a little uncomfortable, is American phenom Jack Eichol. The 18-year-old just finished his first year at Boston University and barring a huge surprise with be the No. 2 selection in this year's NHL Draft by Buffalo.

Yet he's wearing a Crimson Tide hat.

Someday in the not-too-distant-future Alabama might actually have a Division I program if it comes to the conclusion hockey could be a revenue sport. Notre Dame recently built a beautiful ice arena, as did Penn State, and the foundation of a Crimson Tide program is already in place. The club-level Frozen Tide is moving up to the American Collegiate Hockey Association's top division and is aiming to play some NCAA Division I teams next season.

Recruiting in Quebec may not be far behind.

Thus is the long arm of collegiate athletics, which is growing longer by the day and in more ways than most fans would have recently believed possible (trust me, somewhere the possibility of putting hockey games on the SEC Network and trying to attract affiliates in Canada has been discussed). It's also why, in part, we have things like last week's announcement that there will be three more bowl games at the end of this upcoming season, for a record 42 bowls including the College Football Playoff championship.

The three newcomers are the Arizona Bowl in Tucson at the University of Arizona's stadium, the Cure Bowl in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl, and a bowl to be played in Austin at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Overall there will be 84 bowl slots available, and last year 82 teams won the necessary six games to qualify.

What's next, a bowl game in Tuscaloosa? It sounds about as far-fetched as hockey, doesn't it?