The Alabama Crimson Tide were one of the best dynasties in college football under head coach Nick Saban. He coached the program from 2007 to 2023 and retired after the 2023 season.
Alabama won seven national titles under him as the head coach of the team. The last national title of his career was in 2020 and some think that may have been the best team he ever coached with the Crimson Tide. In 2020, it was the COVID season, and they defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in the national championship game that season. Where does that Crimson Tide team rank amongst the great college football teams over the last 25 seasons?
Nick Saban’s 2020 Alabama Crimson Tide Ranks 4th In Top 25 In Greatest College Football Teams Over the Last 25 Years
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic listed the Top 25 teams over the last 25 seasons in college football. Coming in at number four, he has the 2020 Crimson Tide on the list being coached by Saban. Mandel said of that squad,
“AP All-Americans: QB Mac Jones, RB Najee Harris, WR DeVonta Smith, C Landon Dickerson, T Alex Leatherwood, DT Christian Barmore, LB Dylan Moses, CB Patrick Surtain II
Signature wins: No. 2 Ohio State (52-24 in CFP championship), No. 4 Texas A&M (52-24), No. 5 Notre Dame (31-14 in CFP semifinal), No. 7 Georgia (41-24), No. 13 Florida (52-46 in SEC championship)
The most dominant team of the Saban era did its damage against a pandemic-modified schedule comprised entirely of Power 5 foes. Jones set the FBS record for pass efficiency (since broken), completing 77.4 percent of his passes for 41 touchdowns and just four interceptions, while Heisman winner Smith produced arguably the greatest receiving season in the history of the sport with 117 catches for 1,856 yards and 23 TDs. Alabama beat four of the final top seven by an average of 22.5 points, went 11-0 against the SEC and beat every team but Florida by at least 15 points.”
Smith was the Heisman Trophy winner for Alabama during the 2020 college football season. He was the number one wide receiver on that team and Jaylen Waddle was the number two wide receiver on that squad as well.
Surtain, Smith, Jones, Leatherwood, and Harris were all selected in the first-round of the 2021 NFL Draft. This was probably one of the reasons why this may have been the best Crimson Tide team under Saban.
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