Alabama football: The gap between the Crimson Tide and everybody else

FBS college football coaches overwhelmingly select Alabama football as the nation’s best team in 2018. How wide is the gap between the Tide and everybody else?

Alabama football fans don’t need outside sources to bless the 2018 Alabama Crimson Tide as the nation’s best. We enjoy reviewing the polls, mostly to see where future and potential opponents are rated.

We also know none of the ever-expanding numbers of polls mean anything – except for the final CFB Playoff Committee’s final ranking. The USA Today Coaches Poll might be an exception if more coaches and fewer Sports Information Directors were doing the voting.

Alabama football fans and most members of the media know better than asking Nick Saban his opinion of polls. Nick views them disdainfully. Since the Alabama Crimson Tide is ranked at or near the top of every poll, Saban describes the polls as “rat poison.”

Every season, there is a survey of FBS coaches that deserves attention. Writers from cbssports.com solicit comments from all the FBS coaches and publish the results. This preseason the survey result for the top 2018 team was Alabama football at 92 percent. The Crimson Tide was followed by Clemson and Michigan State, both at four percent.

What the coaches had to say

Even more interesting than the actual survey results are the anonymous comments from coaches. Below are a few of the comments about the Crimson Tide.

"They have the best coach in the country. They have all the resources, and they’re a machine"

"You could put together an all-star team of 22 guys with the rest of college football, and it would be comparable to Alabama’s starting 22"

"They have two of the top five quarterbacks in the country"

"Everybody says it’s recruiting — But what they do is create a real process — and they’re the best at it"

To be clear, the CBS group had conversations with only about 20 percent of the FBS coaches. The sample size is suspect. No doubt, CBS would have spoken with more had they been given the opportunity. Nick Saban is not the only coach uninterested in hypotheticals and conjecture.

The small sample can explain Michigan State and Clemson being equal picks as the best team going into 2018. Still, the 92 percent picking Alabama football as the nation’s best is significant.

Can we conclude, the gap between Alabama football and everybody else is accurately depicted by the 92 percent? Two answers are valid, yes and no. Five national championships in nine seasons support yes. The 92-4-4 split between Alabama, Clemson and Michigan State does not reflect the gap between the teams is a mathematical factor of 92-4.

Subjectively the gap is wide, but there is no objective measurement. In a head-to-head matchup between the Tide and Clemson, Alabama football might not even be the favorite.

Still, an overall conclusion can be made about the coach survey. In terms of programs built to win frequent national championships, no other program comes close to Alabama football.

Looking for some Crimson Tide themed, Bama Hammer stuff? Check out our FanSided, Bama Hammer collection.