Is Alabama’s reign good for college football?
The history of college football is connected by a continuum of dynasties that rise, topple over by the hand of a stronger replacement or crumble under the weight of their own greatness, then start the climb all over again.
This constant clash between the royals and their potential usurpers is woven into the appeal of the sport, an unwritten tradition that sets the stage for each new season and championship still to be claimed.
But as we close in on seven years since Nick Saban announced Alabama’s return to dominance, the prospect of any challenger preventing this run from stretching into the next decade seems far-fetched. Apart from a wobble in 2013 and 2014, the Crimson Tide enter Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship game in Tampa in as strong a position as ever to continue stacking titles until Sa-
ban decides he’s had enough.
“I tip my hat to them,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, whose team will try to prevent Alabama’s fifth national championship in the last eight years while winning its first since 1981. “Unbelievable run they’ve had. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Should Alabama prevail against Clemson for the second consecutive season and finish 15-0, it will be hard to deny that the gulf between No. 1 and everyone else is as wide as ever, at which point it will be worth asking: How much ’Bama is too much for a sport that loves dynasties but also loves seeing them eventually fall?
“On one hand, you’re describing an incredible reign, sustained achievement,” said ESPN’s Chris Fowler, who will handle play-byplay duties for the championship game. “On the other hand, I’m sure many people would like to see fresh faces, a new story at the top. But that’s what makes it so difficult to do what they’ve done, because they’re a huge target, they wear it year after year and manage it and overcome that. So in one respect, you tune in to a game like this and one of the major plot lines is marveling at what Alabama continues to do. Nobody’s ever done 15-0 at the highest level of this sport. But five (championships) in eight years; that’s not supposed to happen.”
Though sports dynasties are defined rather loosely, and often controversially, the 1970s in college football were ruled by Alabama, Oklahoma and Southern California. That triumvirate gave way to Miami (Fla.), Penn State, Notre Dame and a second run of Barry Switzer dominance at Oklahoma in the 1980s. By the 1990s, they’d been replaced by Nebraska winning three championships in four years, Florida State winning two under Bobby Bowden and Florida finishing no lower than No. 7 for six consecutive seasons with one national title. The turn of the century saw Pete Carroll’s USC dynasty, Bob Stoops reviving Oklahoma as a national power and Urban Meyer driving Florida to championships in 2006 and 2008.
But ever since Meyer lost to Saban in the 2009 Southeastern Conference championship game, the conversation has been driven by Alabama practically all the time with brief interruptions provided by Cam Newton in 2010, Jameis Winston in 2013 and a stunning 2014 loss to Ohio State in the inaugural Playoff.
In both years since then, Alabama has seemingly set the bar even higher with 26 consecutive wins and defenses that stand out statistically among the best in history. And if Saban wins one more game, he’ll match legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant with six titles (Saban won one at LSU in 2003), effectively ending the conversation about the greatest coach of all time.
“Championships are easier to win than they are to repeat,” said Bowden, whose teams finished in the top five an astounding 14 consecutive seasons between 1987 and 2000. “We played for five national championships, but we only won two. We had two or three times (attempting to go) back-to-back, but we couldn’t ever win that second one. Miami and Florida made it rough. Miami beat us by a point (in 1983) to win their first national championship. Then they won another one and another one. Then when they kind of slack off, here comes Spurrier.
“It’s easier to win one than to continue to win, and that’s the thing about Nick. He continues to win. Not only is he one win away from Bear Bryant, but, gosh, he’s done it all in the last 10 years.”
Though Bowden’s peers made it hard to put together a run of championships like Alabama, it made for compelling year-in, year-out theater. And though it’s impossible to deny the marvel of Alabama’s sustained excellence, monotony might set in for some fans if a legitimate foil can’t establish itself.
“Just being a fan of sports, whether it’s college basketball or tennis with individuals who go on a Roger Federer-type run, Tiger Woods in golf, I love it,” ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said. “I love when we have a program that raises the bar and that everybody is aiming for. We kind of mock the ‘We want ’Bama’ thing, but when you talk to the coaches and players in the sport, whether it’s in the SEC or around the country, they see that coach and that brand and that’s who they’re trying to bring down. Whether the viewer at home gets tired of Alabama, I guess it’s up to each individual, but I really enjoy it.”
It appeared Alabama would have an equal in 2014 when Ohio State broke through. At that point, Meyer had three championships to Saban’s four, with the Buckeyes set to enter 2015 at No. 1. Instead, Saban has widened the gap and Clemson has emerged as the biggest threat for a second consecutive year.
Alabama’s 45-40 win against the Tigers last year was a classic, providing a built-in story line for Clemson’s second attempt Monday. Although a Tigers victory wouldn’t please fans of the Crimson Tide, it might not be bad for the sport to have evidence that Alabama is mortal after all.
“If you’re not an Alabama fan, you probably want us to win,” Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware said. “But Alabama doesn’t care about that at all. Come game day and between the white lines, all the extra support and motivation doesn’t mean much if you don’t play well.
“It’s cool leading up to the game that a lot of the country probably wants us to dethrone them. But we respect what they’ve done. Working and grinding for however long they’ve done it and being No. 1 for so long, it’s very difficult. We’re going to do everything in our power to dethrone them and put Clemson at the top.”