I stay on sports radio stations pretty much any time I am in my car, and mostly on ESPNU. And the really common theme I hear so much these days is about how weak Alabama's schedule is and how we should be ashamed. I get it. Our one bigger OOC game this year is Louisville. But saying this is the "Nick Saban Way" is a way out of line to me. So I got to thinking about it, and hear is what I know. In almost every year since Saban has taken over, we have played at least one OOC game with a team that has, during that period, been a media darling. There are very few contenders since 2007 who have not yet played a Saban-coached Alabama team (Oregon is the only one I can really think of).
2007: Florida State. Yeah, they got us in Saban's first year.
2008: Clemson. They were ranked 9. We were ranked 24. How did that all work out?
2009: Virginia Tech. They have been down the last few years, but they were very much contenders in this era. Both teams ranked in the top 10. Scoreboard doesn't reflect just how thoroughly Bama beat those guys.
2010: Penn State. Ok, so we got them when they were not at their best, but they were still ranked 18 for that game.
2011: Penn State again. This time they were ranked 23 to our 3.
2012: Michigan. They were ranked #8. We stole their lunch money and sent them home.
2012: Notre Dame. Did Manti ever find his girlfriend?
2013: Virginia Tech again. Past their best day, and this game showed it. But still..
2013: Oklahoma. I hate to even talk about this one. But they are one of the only two top tier teams that can legitimately claim they have the better of Coach Saban at Alabama.
2014: West Virginia. This game was not pretty. WV is not quite at the level of some of these teams, but they did have a few good years
2014: Ohio State. Ugh...See my note on Oklahoma. Hats off to both of those
2015: Wisconsin. Not even close
2015: Michigan State. Were we even playing the same sport?
2015: Clemson. One of the most exciting games I have ever watched, though some defense would have been nice
2016: USC. Pac-12. LOL
2016: Washington: See USC
2016: Clemson. This one hurt, but good job to them
2017: FSU. Pre-season, this game was all the talk. 1 vs 3. Could be a game we would see again in January. Then the whistle blew.
2017: Clemson. We are 3-1 against them with Saban
So yeah. We don't play anyone outside of our conference. If you went through all the conferences and started naming the top teams from each of them, there are not many we haven't played. We have Miami on the schedule coming in a few years. We might want to try to get Oregon and/or Stanford going. But who else do they want us to beat before they stop saying that. I would like us to schedule an opener with OSU or Oklahoma, though. In my eyes, they can still hold the banner against us until we beat them, so I would like to even those out soon.
2007: Florida State. Yeah, they got us in Saban's first year.
2008: Clemson. They were ranked 9. We were ranked 24. How did that all work out?
2009: Virginia Tech. They have been down the last few years, but they were very much contenders in this era. Both teams ranked in the top 10. Scoreboard doesn't reflect just how thoroughly Bama beat those guys.
2010: Penn State. Ok, so we got them when they were not at their best, but they were still ranked 18 for that game.
2011: Penn State again. This time they were ranked 23 to our 3.
2012: Michigan. They were ranked #8. We stole their lunch money and sent them home.
2012: Notre Dame. Did Manti ever find his girlfriend?
2013: Virginia Tech again. Past their best day, and this game showed it. But still..
2013: Oklahoma. I hate to even talk about this one. But they are one of the only two top tier teams that can legitimately claim they have the better of Coach Saban at Alabama.
2014: West Virginia. This game was not pretty. WV is not quite at the level of some of these teams, but they did have a few good years
2014: Ohio State. Ugh...See my note on Oklahoma. Hats off to both of those
2015: Wisconsin. Not even close
2015: Michigan State. Were we even playing the same sport?
2015: Clemson. One of the most exciting games I have ever watched, though some defense would have been nice
2016: USC. Pac-12. LOL
2016: Washington: See USC
2016: Clemson. This one hurt, but good job to them
2017: FSU. Pre-season, this game was all the talk. 1 vs 3. Could be a game we would see again in January. Then the whistle blew.
2017: Clemson. We are 3-1 against them with Saban
So yeah. We don't play anyone outside of our conference. If you went through all the conferences and started naming the top teams from each of them, there are not many we haven't played. We have Miami on the schedule coming in a few years. We might want to try to get Oregon and/or Stanford going. But who else do they want us to beat before they stop saying that. I would like us to schedule an opener with OSU or Oklahoma, though. In my eyes, they can still hold the banner against us until we beat them, so I would like to even those out soon.