Ranking Nick Saban's Alabama Teams
We're two weeks removed from the thrilling conclusion to a thrilling season of college football, and yes, in the wake of my favorite NFL team suffering yet another inexplicable playoff heartbreaker, my favorite college basketball team inexplicably underachieving, and my favorite soccer team inexplicably losing their ability to defend, my sports mind is fully on college football still. This usually would be the time where I fantasize about having an expanded, more comprehensive playoff field in the sport and break down alternative scenarios that might have played out. But, though, it is always a fun thought experiment, I don't feel the need to do that this year, for a couple reasons. One, because by the end of the regular season and particularly in the postseason, it sure seemed like any and all roads would have led to the Alabama-Georgia national championship we got in real life. But more significantly, the recent decision by the Power 5 conferences to punt on playoff expansion within the next few years felt like a swift kick in the 'nads for those of us who are dying to see this sport we love have a more exciting, less anticlimactic end to its year, so much so that this year, it hurts to even dream.
So instead, what I will do is, strangely, a piece singing the praises of a head coach who just lost his last game of the season. It's not just any old coach though; Alabama's Nick Saban is arguably the greatest coach of all time, and though his Crimson Tide came up short in the natty this year, the completion of his 15th season at the helm solidified a 15-year era of dominance that has hardly ever been seen at any level of Division 1 or even professional athletics. Saban has completely revived a once-proud program, taking a school that had just 1 national championship in the 30 years before he got there to 9 different national championship games, over half of those ending with them atop the trophy podium.
To commemorate an incredible 15-year era, here's a ranking of all 15 of his Alabama teams, ranging from the "good, but mortal" to the "best college football team of all time, perhaps?!?"
15. 2007
Record: 7-6
Final Ranking (AP): NR
Postseason: Independence Bowl, def. Colorado 30-24
This is the most obvious pick of them all. The only time in Nick Saban's tenure at Alabama in which he failed to reach 10 wins-- yes, you read that right; the only time in 15 years --was in his first very season at the helm. That Tide team, the start of a rebuild project, actually started brightly, rushing out to a 3-0 start including a thrilling win over a Top 15 Arkansas team, but things took a downturn after a loss the very next week in overtime at Georgia, as they would proceed to lose 5 more of their last 8 games to finish the season at 6-6. That spell included an infamous, embarrassing home loss to Louisiana-Monroe, which has to rank as the worst of Saban's Alabama tenure. Their bowl game was a microcosm of their season; after leaping out to a brilliant 27-0 start against Colorado, they had to scrape their way to a finish and cling on for dear life in the second half of the game, but ultimately they were able to do so, setting the stage for a much better 2008 season.
14. 2010
Record: 10-3
Final Ranking (AP): #10
Postseason: Citrus Bowl, def. #9 Michigan State 49-7
Nick Saban's second-worst Alabama team finished the season 10-3, ranked in the Top 10. Just let that sink in for a minute.
There's no question there's quite a step up from the last-placed team to this one. The 2010 team still featured most of the stars of the team that won the national championship the year prior, including the reigning Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. But between injuries and frankly, the mental difficulty of motivating yourself to win a second straight title, they had a choppy 9-3 season with some highs-- dominant wins over Top 10 teams Florida, Arkansas and Michigan State (the latter in their bowl game) --and a couple serious lows-- upset road losses at South Carolina and LSU, and a 24-point collapse at home against archrivals Auburn, which allowed the Tigers to advance to the national championship.
13. 2019
Record: 11-2
Final Ranking (AP): #8
Postseason: Citrus Bowl, def. #14 Michigan 35-16
As they often do, Alabama started the 2019 season as the preseason championship favorite, and their quarterback Tua Tagovailoa started as the clear Heisman favorite. In the end, neither came particularly close to fruition, for two main reasons: Tagovailoa's injury-ridden season, and the steamroller that was Joe Burrow and LSU. 2019 LSU was arguably the greatest college football team of the modern era and their quarterback had one of the greatest single seasons in history. Their midseason blitzing of Alabama in Tuscaloosa officially upended the SEC hierarchy. An upset loss at Auburn (sans the once-again injured Tagovailoa) in the season finale solidified that Alabama would miss the College Football Playoff for the first time since its inception, though a dominant bowl win over a good Michigan team reminded everyone just how good they could be.
12. 2008
Record: 12-2
Final Ranking (AP): #6
Postseason: Sugar Bowl, lost to #6 Utah 17-31
In just his second year as head coach, Nick Saban officially returned Alabama to the national conversation in 2008. The Tide fired a warning shot in Atlanta the first week of the season, dismantling preseason darlings Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff. They proved that result was no fluke a month later, when they destroyed preseason #1 Georgia in Athens. They continued on to a 12-0 regular season and #1 ranking-- surviving almighty scares from Kentucky and LSU along the way --but it was the postseason that revealed this Tide team was not quite there yet. Coming up against reigning Heisman winner Tim Tebow and eventual national champions Florida in the SEC Championship, they got worn down in the 4th quarter and couldn't keep up. Instead of the national title, they were relegated to the Sugar Bowl where they were shocked by plucky upstarts Utah, who had a chip on their shoulders as they weren't considered for the championship despite being the only unbeaten team in the country. Still, all in all, it was a great season for Alabama which served as a sign of things to come.
11. 2014
Record: 12-2
Final Ranking (AP): #4
Postseason: Sugar Bowl Semifinal, lost to #4 Ohio State 35-42
For a team that's indisputably been the toast of the College Football Playoff, it's not surprising that Alabama entered its first ever iteration as the #1 overall seed. What is surprising is that they failed to even make the first ever playoff championship. Looking back, though, perhaps it shouldn't have surprised us as much it did. The 12-1 Crimson Tide were a very good team, one that won the SEC in a particularly strong year for the conference (half of the teams in the SEC featured in the Top 10 at some point in the season), and boasted a resume of several wins over ranked teams. But look a little closer and you'll see this was always a more vulnerable team than what we've come to expect from Saban's Alabama. There was the loss at Ole Miss, wherein they collapsed late against a team they had completely subdued for most of the game. And for all their quality wins, none of them were particularly dominant, and they had some scares against unranked sides too, namely West Virginia and Arkansas. So, when they faced off in the playoff against an Ohio State team littered with future NFL prospects that would go on to win the national championship, yeah, it was a step up in quality, and they were not up to the challenge, getting dominated in the 2nd half of the Sugar Bowl.
10. 2013
Record: 11-2
Final Ranking (AP): #7
Postseason: Sugar Bowl, lost to #11 Oklahoma 31-45
In a ranking that's preset to be pretty common sense, this is probably my most controversial pick. You could argue both 2008 and 2014, two teams who made the SEC Championship and entered the postseason as the #1 team in the country, deserved to be ranked ahead of this 2013 team which didn't even win their division, let alone go to the national championship. And that would be a fair argument! But postseason accolades (or lack thereof) notwithstanding, I really think this team was better on the whole. Heading into the last week of the regular season, the defending champs were 11-0 and the only game they'd played that was even within single digits was their 7-point win on the road at #6 Texas A&M. Then came their first loss of the season, to Auburn, and though that came at the worst possible time (it kept them out of the SEC Championship, and because this was the last season before the playoff, essentially eliminated them from the natty discussion), they can be slightly redeemed by the fact that a. Auburn was 10-1 and #4 in the country, b. it was at their archrival's stadium, and c. they lost because of one of the most amazing plays in college football history. Sure, they also capitulated in the Sugar Bowl to underdogs Oklahoma, but can you blame them? I typically roll my eyes at the "they didn't care!!!" excuse for bowl game losses, but when your expectation of playing in the national championship was just snatched away because of a buzzer-beating 109-yard field goal return touchdown, I kinda get it.
9. 2021
Record: 13-2
Final Ranking (AP): #2
Postseason: National Championship, lost to #3 Georgia 18-33
No need to rub your eyes-- yes, this is the same team you watched come within 45 yards of winning the national championship game 2 weeks ago. We're only at #9 and yet have already reached the championship-qualifying teams. I do think this year's Alabama team, good as they may have been, was the weakest of Saban's championship teams, however. Yes, they were once again the #1 seed and for the second straight year they boasted the Heisman Trophy winner, but the only time all season they truly looked like a #1 team was in their SEC Championship win over top-ranked Georgia. And while that might seem like a serious caveat, consider the fact that they were razor-thin margins away from losses to mediocre teams such as Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and Florida, which would have kept them out of the playoff altogether, given that they already had a loss to a mediocre Texas A&M team. Consider also the fact that same Georgia team punished them in the national championship one month later. Considering the Bulldogs were in the playoff field regardless of what happened in the SEC Championship, it's not hard to see who the best team was all along.
8. 2016
Record: 14-1
Final Ranking (AP): #2
Postseason: National Championship, lost to #2 Clemson 34-38
#8 may seem a bit harsh for a team that entered the 2016-17 playoff as the reigning national champions, with a 13-0 record, and on a 26-game winning streak. Especially harsh because the only time in the regular season that they were seriously pushed was a 10-0 shutout at a Top 10 LSU team. But the truth is, while this Alabama team was undoubtedly one of the best teams all season, it never seemed indisputable that they were the best team. Certainly not when all the vaunted, highly-ranked SEC opponents they beat kept losing consecutive games soon afterward, and certainly not when #4 Washington pushed them into the 4th quarter of the Peach Bowl semifinal despite an overwhelming home-field advantage in Atlanta. They were very good, but imperfect on both sides of the ball and sure enough, in the championship they got outdueled at the very end by a similarly very-good-but-imperfect Clemson team, but one that had motivation and an elite quarterback on their side.
7. 2018
Record: 14-1
Final Ranking (AP): #2
Postseason: National Championship, lost to #2 Clemson 16-44
I thought long and hard about ranking the 2016 team above this one, and there's a fair argument to be made for it, methinks, especially if you're just looking at the SEC and national championship games. Whereas 2016 Bama annihilated Florida and then came within a few seconds of beating Clemson, the 2018 iteration needed a miraculous comeback to beat Georgia and then got their doors blown off by Clemson in the natty. But in response to that argument, I would counter that 2018 Georgia and 2018 Clemson were both leaps and bounds better than 2016 Florida and 2016 Clemson. And more importantly, that erases the rest of the season from consideration. For 13 of Alabama's 15 games in 2018, they were absolutely unstoppable. Georgia fans might still rue that SEC Championship collapse, but the fact is, in Week 13, the Bulldogs were the first team (even including #4 LSU and top 20 teams Texas A&M and Mississippi State) to come within 24 points of Alabama. Furthermore, part of what made Clemson's national title romp so shocking is that it came one week after Alabama absolutely dismantled Big 12 champions Oklahoma and their Heisman-winning quarterback, Kyler Murray. This was a truly great team that just ran into an even greater team at the very end.
6. 2017
Record: 13-1
Final Ranking (AP): #1
Postseason: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, def. #3 Georgia 26-23 (OT)
We're just past halfway through the rankings, which mean-- yep, National Champion time!!
Nick Saban's six title teams run the gamut of indisputably the best team in the country to, well, quite disputably the best team in the country. This 2017 team certainly falls into the latter category. I actually think the two teams sandwiched around this team might have been better than this one, but I can't in good conscience rank a national champion behind teams that didn't win the trophy. The 2017 Crimson Tide spent the majority of the season ranked #1, but after the steep decline of Florida State (who they beat in their marquee season opener) and in an abnormally weak year for the SEC, lacked a truly impressive win. Then, in the season finale, with a chance to get said impressive win, they got beat somewhat easily by rivals Auburn in a de facto SEC West championship. After Auburn proceeded to lose a rematch to Georgia in the SEC Championship, however, Alabama managed to controversially sneak into the playoff, much to the dismay of Big Ten champions Ohio State, sole undefeated team Central Florida, and fellow Power 5 one-loss side Wisconsin. For my money, they shouldn't have been in the playoff field-- and I stand by that! --but once there, they did what champions do: they made the most of their opportunity. Their elite defense hounded #1 Clemson all night long in the Sugar Bowl semifinal, leading to an ultimately easy victory. Then, against old SEC foes Georgia in the national championship, they seemed to be staring down the barrel of defeat before making the most famous substitution this side of Rudy: out came quarterback Jalen Hurts at halftime, in came freshman phenom Tua Tagovailoa. Tua, along with some fellow freshman phenoms Najee Harris, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle (recognize any names in there?), led the Tide to a thrilling comeback from two scores down in the 4th quarter, setting up an overtime that culminated in this walkoff game-winner.
5. 2011
Record: 12-1
Final Ranking (AP): #1
Postseason: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, def. #1 LSU 21-0
Speaking of "not disputably the best team"... well, the 2011 national champions fit the bill. This was certainly the most controversial national champion of the last decade, even more so than the 2017 team. LSU spent most of the season as the clear #1 team, a spot that was solidified when they beat Alabama in a knockdown, drag-out game in Tuscaloosa, and clinched the SEC division and conference crowns as they finished 13-0. But, instead of picking 11-1 Big 12 champions Oklahoma State, or hell, even Andrew Luck and 11-1 Stanford, as their title foes, the BCS Committee opted for a rematch with this Alabama team. And you just don't give Nick Saban two cracks at anyone, especially poor Les Miles. The Tide showed up to New Orleans with the sharper edge and the superior gameplan and dominated the unsuspecting Tigers in a 21-0 natty romp. Now, this season is still a source of frustration for me; LSU truly was the best team all year, and for the life of me I will never understand why the committee didn't opt for the thrilling offense-vs-defense, old school-vs-new school matchup of LSU vs. Oklahoma State. But, don't let that distract you from how great this Alabama team truly was. Their offense had problems, but the defense was among the best in Nick Saban's tenure. Other than FCS team Georgia Southern in a throwaway game near the end of the year, none of their opponents all season exceeded 14 points.
4. 2015
Record: 14-1
Final Ranking (AP): #1
Postseason: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, def. #1 Clemson 45-40
The 2015 national champions were unique for a couple reasons. For one, they marked Nick Saban's last team to win a title without the help of an elite quarterback. Without using Google, do you remember the quarterback of that 2015 team? Me neither. (Sorry, Jake Coker.) In fact, until former walk-on Stetson Bennett led Georgia to glory this year, it was the last of ANY national champion to not feature a generational talent at QB. But they also were unique in that like the 2017 and 2011 champions, for most of the season they did not seem like they were truly the best team; yet, like the teams ranked ahead of them in this list, by the time it got to the postseason, they did appear to be the team to beat. After an early home loss to Ole Miss, they somewhat fell off the radar, and only re-established themselves in the national consciousness when they thoroughly handled #2 LSU at home in November. By this time, a young man named Derrick Henry had taken the lead in the Heisman race, and the Tide were riding a three-headed monster of Henry and fellow future NFL starters Damien Harris and Kenyan Drake in the running game. Poor Michigan State, who had won the Big Ten in thrilling and surprising fashion, didn't stand a chance in the Cotton Bowl semifinal, losing 41-0. And in the national championship, the actual #1 team Clemson lived up to their ranking into the 4th quarter, but in the home stretch of the most crucial game of the season, the cream rose to the top, and this Alabama team stood above all competitors.
3. 2012
Record: 13-1
Final Ranking (AP): #1
Postseason: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, def. #1 Notre Dame 42-14
The 2012 national champions were, for my money, the best of Nick Saban's non-undefeated teams. Their one loss was at home, yes. But it was to eventual Heisman winner Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in a down-to-the wire contest. And yes, there were the almighty scares at LSU and against Georgia in the SEC Championship, but they found a way out of both, and it's important to note those opponents both ended the year in the Top 10. At the end of the day, this was an Alabama team that started the year beating #8 Michigan 41-14 in Dallas and ended it beating #1 Notre Dame 42-14 in Miami for the national title. Notre Dame is an enjoyable punching bag, but that team was really, really good, and Alabama's domination spoke more to just how elite the Tide were by the end of the season. Their defense didn't fall off much from their title-winning team the year before, and their offense got considerably better. This is still the only team to win back-to-back titles in the BCS and Playoff era.
2. 2009
Record: 14-0
Final Ranking (AP): #1
Postseason: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, def. #2 Texas 37-21
It took Nick Saban all of three seasons to return Alabama to the promised land. And not only was that 2009 team Saban's first national-title winners at Bama, they were one of his best teams ever. One year removed from coming up short against Florida in the SEC Championship (and de facto national semifinal), the Tide and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram would get revenge in a major way, walloping the #1 Gators 32-13 in Atlanta and booking their spot in Pasadena for the national championship. This was the cherry on top of a 12-0 season that saw a couple close calls, yes; against Auburn and especially against Tennessee, a game that required not one but two late field goal blocks by mountainous defensive lineman Terrance Cody. But mostly it was a slew of dominant wins over an array of opponents, including ranked foes such as Virginia Tech, LSU, Ole Miss and South Carolina, the first of which would go on to win the ACC. As for the national championship itself, sure, one of the great 'what ifs' of modern college football is "What if Colt McCoy hadn't gotten hurt?" There's no question Texas' offense was never the same after their two-time Heisman finalist quarterback was hurt late in the first quarter with the Longhorns leading 6-0. When it was confirmed he would not return to the game, it was clear Texas didn't stand a chance. But if we're being honest, a healthy McCoy likely would have only served to keep it respectable. There was no stopping this Alabama team when they got it going, and they got it going at the most important times.
1. 2020
Record: 13-0
Final Ranking (AP): #1
Postseason: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, def. #3 Ohio State 52-24
The lowest-ranked team of Nick Saban's Alabama career was the easiest call, but the highest-ranked wasn't much harder. Out of all of his great teams, all of his title-winning sides, one team towers above the rest, and it was the 2020 iteration of Alabama football. It was a wholly abnormal season; thanks to the pandemic, it was a compressed schedule, which didn't kick off until the last weekend of September, played in front of limited capacity crowds. But lest you think this might weaken the argument for Alabama's quality, I would argue the opposite; a massive home-field advantage tends to be the great equalizer. Without that as a factor, we were permitted to see who the actual superior football team was. Furthermore, the compressed schedule meant Alabama faced only SEC opponents. Where a usual year would include 8 conference foes, and 4 non-conference foes, a couple of them routinely cupcake wins, they had to play an 11-game slate of conference opponents before the playoff. The Tide barely flinched through that brutal stretch, notching wins over Texas A&M and Georgia, eventual winners of the Orange Bowl and Peach Bowl, respectively, in the first four weeks of the season by a total scoreline of 93-48. They struggled to contain Lane Kiffin's offense at Ole Miss, yes, but they also put up 63 points on the Rebels on the road in Mississippi. They made breezy work of their season-ending stretch of Kentucky, Auburn, LSU and Arkansas, winning the four games by an average scoreline of 53-9. The first (and, spoiler alert, ONLY) time that they were pushed all year was against Florida in the SEC Championship, and even then, they were pushed more in the sense of "oh dang, Florida's scoring a lot so we'll just need to keep scoring until time runs out!" than in the sense of "oh man, we might actually lose this game." And score at will they did: if this wasn't the best college football team in modern history (and I think they're in the conversation), it has a good chance at being the best offense at least. DeVonta Smith became the first wide receiver in nearly 30 years to win the Heisman Trophy, and he was joined as a Heisman finalist by quarterback Mac Jones. In addition to those two, running back Najee Harris and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle were finalists for their position awards and are now starters on NFL teams. So all this being said, it's perhaps unsurprising that come playoff time, Alabama absolutely toyed with their food, strolling through a 38-14 win over Notre Dame in the semifinal, before blowing open the national championship before halftime en route to 52-24 laugher over Justin Fields and Ohio State. This team, quite simply, was as good as they get.
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