Seasonending loss for Aggies

Liberty churns for 317 rushing yards in a 49-28 victory

Sometimes it is just not your year. Even if you are the greatest dynasty in college football history.

The playoff will be played without Alabama for the first time after Auburn won a wild Iron Bowl on Saturday.

So that’s it. No debates about résumés, eye tests or how much the Crimson Tide would be favored on a neutral field against this team or that.

Alabama has lost two regularseason games for the first time since 2010. Nick Saban’s dynasty has not only won five national championship since 2009, but three other times it entered the postseason with a chance to win it. Twice it lost to Clemson in the national championship game. Once Urban Meyer’s Ohio State team knocked Alabama out in the first round of the playoff.

The last time Alabama was relegated to just a bowl game was 2013, when the Kick-Six sent Alabama to the Sugar Bowl where it lost to Oklahoma.

Of course, another failed field goal in the Iron Bowl played a part in the Tide’s demise this time.

This season will be seen as something of a failure — or at least a disappointment — in Tuscaloosa. But think about everything it took to take down the Tide.

The defense was faulty most of the season after a string on injuries left Alabama leaning on freshman linebackers. The Tide lost by five to No. 1 LSU, with a gimpy Tua Tagovailoa making a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. Then Alabama lost Tagovailoa for good to a hip injury.

The Tide’s playoff hopes were shaky at best going into the Iron Bowl, with backup quarterback Mac Jones leading the way. Jones had his moments, good and bad. He threw two picks returned for touchdowns, including one that bounced off a receiver’s back when the Tide was on the door step. Alabama doinked a 30-yard field goal that would have tied it, and committed 13 penalties, including a game-ender. And Auburn benefited from a video review stoppage that let the Tigers get off a field goal with a second left in the first half.

All that happened to Alabama, and it lost by three to a top-15 team.

“I know our fans are disappointed, but I can promise you that our players are disappointed, and we’re all very, very disappointed,” Saban said. “It’s my responsibility to get our team to do these things better, and that certainly will be the goal in the future.”

The dynasty is most certainly not dead, but Alabama is out of it in November and in this era of college football that is a very big deal.

Winners

WISCONSIN. The Badgers (102, 7-2) are off to the Big Ten title game after scoring touchdowns in their first four second-half possessions at Minnesota on the way to a 38-17 victory

OHIO STATE. Blasted Michigan. Again. Win the Big Ten title game next week, and Ohio State will be one of the top two seeds in the playoff. Lose, and there’s still probably a path for the Buckeyes to make it into the semifinals.

BAYLOR. If the Bears were going to have any chance at a playoff berth, they needed to impress against Kansas and then upend Oklahoma next week in the Big 12 title game. A 61-6 drubbing of the Jayhawks qualifies as impressive enough.

INDIANA. The Hoosiers outlasted Purdue, 44-41 in double overtime, not only reclaiming the Old Oaken Bucket after a two-year hiatus but also earning their first eight-win season since 1993.

Loser

MICHIGAN. The Wolverines (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) are no closer to beating Ohio State than the day Jim Harbaugh took over. Not only did the 56-27 loss match the margin of defeat in Harbaugh’s first game against the Buckeyes (a 42-13 loss in 2015), it was also the eighth Ohio State win in a row, 15th in 16 years and 17th in 19.