Publisher's Synopsis
Nothing in college football history compares to what Nick Saban has accomplished at Alabama in the past decade. He has won five national championships and played for several others. Here are 5 that stand out:
- Saban's winning percentage of .817 in regular-season conference games was on pace to shatter the SEC record set by Tennessee's Gen. Robert Neyland of .787 (Alabama's Frank Thomas was third at .765, just ahead of Bear Bryant's .764).
- Alabama had defeated 82 straight unranked opponents, 10 more than any program in college football history.
- Since 2008, the Crimson Tide had lost just once to a team outside of the top 15 in the AP Top 25. Every other program in college football had lost at least 10 during the same time period.
- Alabama had been ranked No. 1 at some point of every season since 2008.
- The last time the Crimson Tide wasn't ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for a regular season game was against Auburn in 2015. It had been first in 45 of the previous 49 polls, with the four exceptions all being in the postseason. Heading into the 2019 season, when Alabama was expected to be ranked second in the preseason polls, the record for most appearances at No. 1 in a 50-week span was 33 (Southern California, 2003-05).
