Sometimes people lose sight of who really rules college football. Alabama had a down year by their standards last year, finishing a disappointing 9-4 and finishing outside of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
But that intro paragraph should tell you everything you need to know. How many teams would consider 9-4 a disappointing season?
Nick Saban set the bar ridiculously high in Tuscaloosa. But Alabama was the pinnacle of college football even before Saban set foot on campus. He just raised the bar so high that it can't possibly be reached by anyone else. That's why Kalen DeBoer's first season was a disappointment.
Expectations are always high for Alabama football. And how wouldn't they be? When you're the best, you want to stay the best. It's been a few years since the Crimson Tide was the best. But historically, it's not even close. Alabama is the pinnacle of the sport, and that's not going to change.
Take this stat, for instance. Of all the Power-4 teams in the country, only one team has a winning record against AP No. 1 teams. Who? You guessed it:
All-Time Records vs. AP No. 1 Opponents 👀
— CFB Tracker (@MatchupTracker) April 30, 2025
How many wins does your team have against AP No. 1?
*AP POLL ONLY* pic.twitter.com/98Te3hPTF9
No team has more wins against the AP No. 1 team in the country than Alabama. No team has a winning record against the AP No. 1 team in the country other than Alabama. And the Crimson Tide is five games above .500 against No. 1 ranked teams. Simply astonishing.
Alabama's last win over the AP No. 1-ranked team came in the 2023 SEC Championship Game. The Crimson Tide stunned Georgia 27-24 in Atlanta to capture Saban's final SEC title and land Alabama in the College Football Playoff.
Here's a Nick Saban stat to show his dominance, too
How much did Alabama dominate the SEC during Nick Saban's 17-year tenure? Well...
Nick Saban's record vs. every SEC team during his run at Alabama from 2007 to 2023 🐘 pic.twitter.com/AeTZK6LKN6
— CFB Tracker (@MatchupTracker) May 1, 2025
Saban had everyone's number. Which one sticks out to you the most? For me, it's that the Tennessee number should have been 17-0. Thanks Jason Autry.
Saban's legacy will never be surpassed. He dominated college football and did it in the best conference in college football, and nobody else was even close. He set unrealistic expectations that Kalen DeBoer is trying to live up to.