For just the second time in seven seasons, the College Football Playoff includes three teams that didn’t qualify the previous season. Given that four programs at the Football Bowl Subdivision level account for 66 percent of all-time bids, this year’s playoff offers a palate cleanser for fans desperate for new blood. That half of the […]
College football chaos is in the air. Last weekend brought us plenty of it, with then-No. 5 Michigan rolling over No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Oklahoma State storming back on No. 10 Oklahoma late and No. 3 Alabama outlasting Auburn in an Iron Bowl overtime thriller. But the conference championships could have even more […]
College football does not lend itself to consensus, but if you asked enough fans to name the best defense the sport has seen this century, you’d probably get a clear answer: 2011 Alabama. The Crimson’s Tide case is overwhelming, no matter the lens used to examine it. Narratively? That team won a national championship game […]
This year’s college football season has started with a dose of parity rarely seen in the playoff era. While Nick Saban and top-ranked Alabama still seem plenty dominant, having extended their winning streak to 18 games and counting by crushing Southern Miss last Saturday, the four other schools with at least two College Football Playoff […]
Nick Saban’s arrival at Alabama ahead of the 2007 season was a seismic college football event. Saban has since built two different dynasties with the Crimson Tide, winning three titles between 2009 and 2012 and another three from 2015 to 2020. The most clear-eyed way to look at the Tide may be that since Saban’s […]