How do you rank Alabama's great teams? In your opinion, which was the best?
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IMO, there is little comparison between those teams and the current batch (2009-). In 1961 Bama played what would have been 2 ranked teams, 1 in the regular season and then Ark in the bowl. The top ranked team was number 9. Techinically, the regular season opponent was not ranked, but I included GT because they received votes in a year in which there was only a top 10 during the regular season, then top 20 at the end. The 1966 team also played no officially ranked teams in the regular season since there was only a top 10 reg season and final poll. But I include OM and UT because they too received votes. The top ranked team was number 6 in the bowl. So, we see the schedule was relatively weak. It was common in those days.
The 2009 team played 6 ranked teams, including 4 in the top 10; '11 played 6, including 2 in the top 5; '12 played 6 ranked teams, including 4 in the top 10 and 3 in the top 5; '15 9 ranked teams, including 5 in the top 10, 3 top 5; 16 10 ranked teams, including 4 in the top 10; '17 6 ranked teams, including 4 in the top 10 and 3 top 5. Each of those years except for '16 (Bama was number 1 all year, til the final poll), Bama played and beat the number one team.
It's remarkable what Bama has done averaging 7.2 ranked teams vs the 60s teams who totaled 5 in the two years mentioned. I.e., almost triple the number of ranked teams per year. The Saban teams have played 23 top 10 teams (20-3), 15 top 5 teams (13-2) and 6 number 1 teams (5-1) in those 6 years vs 2 top 10 (2-0) and 0 top 5 teams in '61 and '66.
Good stuff TideE. There's no way to compare teams of different eras. Players today are so much bigger and faster than players years ago. My son's high school's offensive line is bigger than the Steelers offensive line of the '70s and he went to a small high school. I guess one could say which team was more dominant in their respective era but then that's a whole different question. Maybe I should have posted it that way.
Take Nuss out of the equation and you are probably right. The only team that comes to mind is the 01 Miami team. One reason I'm not too high on the 12 team is because it seemed we were handcuffed by Nuss. The LSU, aTm, and UGA games are prime examples.
We still lost a game with a game manager starting that game with him in the backfield. I think Jake Coker was a bigger reason we did so well that year than people remember or are willing to admit. Those last 4 games (Aub, UF, MSU, and Clemson) he was a bigger factor than Henry imo. I think in general the 15 team is a very underrated team amongst Alabama fans. Maybe its because we didn't play big named teams in the playoffs.
That’s what I’m saying. One of the best teams in history was cheated out of a title, and it’s a shame.
Good stuff BinB. Is there a website that shows Saban's record against top 10 teams? With Bama playing so many more ranked teams than in the '60s, would it be fair to say the SEC has gotten better? I agree with what you did on those receiving votes, that makes perfect sense since there were only 10 teams in the polls back then.
The best Bama team in my lifetime, in my opinion,... is a combination of 2012 Offense and 2016 Defense! Could you imagine how bad the 2016 Defense would’ve dominated the opposition especially considering how good the 2012 Offense was at time consuming long drives!! That would be a beast of a team!
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Obviously alot of good teams to pick. But 92 stands out to me especially the defense. And we have certainly had some great defenses. I remember watching Bama play Miss State that season and one of the announcers said some NFL team should come get all 11 guys and say yall are going to play for us next season.
You really think so? I thought our O that year was very pedestrian once we hit Amen Corner on the schedule. A great team yes—but not the best by any stretch of the imagination.
After rewatching some game highlights on YouTube, I'm convinced any of our modern defenses would shut down the 92 offense. They were fairly one dimensional. Can you imagine a Sophomore Barker throwing against Kirkpatrick, Milliner, Barron and Lester? How about HaHa and Sunseri.. or we could go against Minkah, Averett, Brown, Harrison and Wallace? That's not to mention the pass rush.
Agree with the bold text wholeheartedly. He made big play after big play and at key times.
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Saban's Bama record since '09:
Overall: 113-12 (90%)
SEC: 68-9 (88%)
Ranked: 51-12 (81%)
Top 10: 25-7 (78%)
Top 5: 14-5 (74%)
Num 1: 6-1 (86%)
Saban's Bama record since '07:
Overall: 132-20 (87%)
SEC: 80-14 (85%)
Ranked: 56-17 (77%)
Top 10: 27-10 (73%)
Top 5: 15-7 (68%)
Num 1: 7-3 (70%)
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That's not saying much. The 1992 offense struggled all year. Jay went 4 of 13 for 18 yards with 2 interceptions against Miami. Luckily Bama rushed for over 250, which I would think any Alabama defense of the last 30 years would have been capable of stopping.
I can only imagine what a 1992 practice was like. We did not get a pass rush like we had in 1992 until 2015.
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I think that one of Coker's assets that get overlooked was his ability to take a vicious hit and not let it effect him the next play. I'm not sure that there are that many QBs who would have made the plays he did after taking those hits.
Today's athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, more agile, and run more complex schemes than in the past, and it's not close. Plus, there have been some important rule changes over time. Two of those -- unlimited substitution and allowance of OL downfield -- literally changed the fundamentals of how the game is played. So you really can't compare eras. You have to compare teams against others in the eras in which they played.
So I'd offer:
1925 -- allowed 7 total points during the 9-game regular season, including 8 shutouts, and upset a heavily favored Washington team 20-19 in the Rose Bowl.
1930 -- allowed 13 points all year, including clobbering Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl
1961 -- allowed 25 points all year, and was never seriously challenged.
1966 -- Bryant always said it was his best team, so I have to go with that
1979 -- the most diverse offense of the wishbone era, and a nasty defense
2012 -- the best combination of offense and defense ever.
If I had to pick one that was head and shoulders over the other teams of the era, I'd have to go with 1930. Undefeated, almost unscored-upon, and a big win against the best of the best at the end.
In two close calls, not 2012 because for all the luck that aTm had to have to win, they still won. Not 1925 because, despite the dominance during the regular season, the last game was really close, which means they were better than, but not dominating over, the best competition.
Man, as I look at the other ones, you can make a legitimate case for any of them. Is this a good problem to have, or what?
So I'd offer:
1925 -- allowed 7 total points during the 9-game regular season, including 8 shutouts, and upset a heavily favored Washington team 20-19 in the Rose Bowl.
1930 -- allowed 13 points all year, including clobbering Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl
1961 -- allowed 25 points all year, and was never seriously challenged.
1966 -- Bryant always said it was his best team, so I have to go with that
1979 -- the most diverse offense of the wishbone era, and a nasty defense
2012 -- the best combination of offense and defense ever.
If I had to pick one that was head and shoulders over the other teams of the era, I'd have to go with 1930. Undefeated, almost unscored-upon, and a big win against the best of the best at the end.
In two close calls, not 2012 because for all the luck that aTm had to have to win, they still won. Not 1925 because, despite the dominance during the regular season, the last game was really close, which means they were better than, but not dominating over, the best competition.
Man, as I look at the other ones, you can make a legitimate case for any of them. Is this a good problem to have, or what?
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That's putting it lightly, especially with us having one of THE best WR's that year in David Palmer (and one of the best Bama WR's ever). Our passing game was downright atrocious (sp?)
He was a gamer, for sure. He was not quite the Joe Montana or Tom Brady we had thought we might be getting from FSU when he came over. He could not take the job from Blake Sims, who had a great year and proved a lot of people wrong. But when it became Coker's team, man he really gave it all and I was proud to have him as our QB.
Our 1977 team was no slouch either. If Jeff Rutledge doesn’t throw 4 picks then we beat Nebraska and would have won the NC outright( though we should have won it anyway).
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