How good was Alabama under Nick Saban? By and large, any time the Crimson Tide lost under the college football legend from 2008-2023 made for big news across the sport, often with wide-ranging domino effects.
CBS Sports recently put together a list of the “best” regular season games of every college football season dating back to 2000. To put into perspective how dominant Saban teams were, Alabama losses appear five times on analyst Chris Hummer’s best-of list dating back to 2010.
From 2009-2020, Alabama won six national championships. No other college football program comes close to that total. The same goes for the impact of Alabama’s few losses in that span.
CBS named the Auburn Tigers‘ 28-27 comeback (“Camback”) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the 2010 Iron Bowl as the best regular season game from that year. Cam Newton led Auburn back from a 24-0 deficit that November Saturday in Tuscaloosa to preserve the Tigers’ perfect season. I still think Alabama wins that game if Mark Ingram doesn’t fumble late in the first half with the Crimson Tide up 21-0 and driving. Ingram had fumbled only once before in his three seasons at tailback.
Texas A&M‘s Johnny Manziel-fueled takedown of No. 1 Alabama was ranked by CBS as the best game from the 2012 regular season. Manziel staked the Aggies to a 20-0 first-quarter lead, fueled in part by a Houdini-like escape out of heavy pressure to lob a touchdown pass to Ryan Swope in the back of the end-zone. A&M never trailed that November day in Tuscaloosa en route to a 29-24 win.
No one needs to overthink what game from the 2013 season ranks as CBS’ best. Auburn’s “Kick Six” will always be one of the best college football plays of all-time, unless you’re an Alabama fan. The Tigers’ 34-28 win over No. 1 ‘Bama as time expired barred the Crimson Tide from a three-peat — and even made the NBC Nightly News broadcast the following day, among other non-sports shows.
By 2019, LSU and Heisman quarterback Joe Burrow became the first visiting team to get a win inside Bryant-Denny since the Ole Miss Rebels in 2015. The Bayou Bengals outlasted the Crimson Tide, 46-41, in what was LSU’s first victory over Alabama in eight years. The Tigers’ win was ranked by CBS as the best regular season game from that year.
It’s fair to wonder if this contest would have had a different result had Tua Tagovailoa been at 100 percent, but ultimately LSU won in what was a rare close game during their 15-0 national championship campaign.
CBS’ top game from the 2022 regular season also involved an Alabama loss, though perhaps not the one you’d think (at LSU). That honor went to Tennessee, whose 52-49 win as time expired ended a 15-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide in what was Saban’s only loss to the Vols in 17 seasons.
By now, you may be wondering if an Alabama win appeared on CBS’ list. It’s a fair question to ask because Alabama is always supposed to win games.
The only Crimson Tide victory to make CBS’ best-of list came from the 2023 season. In that year’s Iron Bowl, Jalen Milroe and Isaiah Bond rescued Alabama from the jaws of defeat at Jordan-Hare Stadium on a 4th-and-31 touchdown with 32 seconds left for a thrilling 27-24 win.
“Gravedigger” became the latest household name in a rivalry that’s never short on big plays that live forever (see: “Wrong Way Bo,” “The Kick” and the aforementioned “Kick Six”). I’ll always wonder why Auburn never rushed Milroe and gave him an eternity to make a game-winning throw in the first place.
There are plenty of Alabama victories that could have made CBS’ list. They include Terrence Cody’s two fourth-quarter blocked field goals against Tennessee in the 2009 edition of the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry. Cody’s “Rocky Block” as time expired preserved a 12-10 Alabama win and kept the Tide’s national championship hopes alive.
Then there’s Alabama’s narrow 21-17 escape against LSU at Tiger Stadium in 2012. The Crimson Tide overcame what looked like sure defeat that November night. Capped off by a perfectly executed screen pass to T.J. Yeldon with 51 seconds left, Alabama survived Death Valley for yet another win in Baton Rouge — and eventually their third national title in four years.
By putting so many of Alabama’s few regular season losses from 2008-2023 on the list, CBS Sports pays the ultimate tribute to the Crimson Tide’s run of dominance.
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