Alabama Football: Lots of buzz about ’20 Tide as CFB’s best team ever
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football: Tuesday’s chatter about the National Championship game was filled with ‘best CFB team ever’ buzz about the Crimson Tide.
In Tuscaloosa and across the Alabama football world, Tuesday was a long celebration. It started late Monday night and intruded into what would normally be a normal workday. The sports media world lavished well-earned praise on Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
On Monday night, while celebrating with teammates, Mac Jones made a bold claim.
"I think we’re the best team to ever play. There’s no team that will ever play an SEC schedule like that again."
Nick Saban, less bold, and more diplomatically came close to saying the same thing. Without the Crimson Tide statements, national media would have asked the question without prompting. Was what the CFB world saw Monday night, college football’s ‘best-ever’ team?
The 2020 Alabama Crimson Tide can’t be college football’s best team unless it is first the best Alabama football team. We start this review by looking at all the undefeated Crimson Tide teams. Counting the 13-0, 2020 Alabama football season, the Crimson Tide has had ten, undefeated and untied seasons. Technically the number would be 11, if the 1-0, 1897 record was included.
The chosen methodology is comparing the wins in each undefeated season, against the final AP Poll ranking of each season’s top opponents.
Any ‘best team’ conclusion will be subjective. Opinions need to also be based in fact. Mountains of data are not needed. Team winning records, by season, and the quality of the opposition in those wins will suffice.
In 1925, 1930 and 1934, the Crimson Tide finished 10-0. Those seasons are not considered due to being before the AP Poll era. That leaves seven other undefeated seasons, in which Alabama Football was the National Champion five times.