Alabama's best non-national championship teams?
- Thread starter saturdaysarebet
- Start date
2016, 1945, 1966, 1977, 1962
2016: If they had held on this would have been considered one of the great college teams of all time, with the D making a case for the best.
Most have been fair to Jalen but he was really handicapped by Sarkisian’s abandonment of the running game after Bo went out. He had Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs to run the ball. Why SS? Jalen was also let down 4 or 5 times by drops from his WRs on 3rd down conversions, especially Dieter. Just hitting 2 or 3 would have changed the game. This is rarely mentioned.
1945: This team has been overlooked because of time, but they were great. They finished number 3 behind undefeated Army. They were #1 on total D (110 ypg, and #2 in total O at ~421 ypg). They outscored the opposition 430-80.
They had 10 of their 25 lettermen eventually drafted by the NFL), including the #1, 4, 5 players, Gilmer, Mancha, Tew) following the ‘47 season. At least 2 of them, Gilmer and Mancha, are in the CFB HOF. It was coached by HOF Coach Frank Thomas.
They played 4 ranked teams, none in the top 10, and beat them LSU 26-7, UTe 25-7, UGA 28-14 and USC 34-14, also stomped a decent 6-3 MSU team 55-13.
Army deservedly won the NC: they beat 4 teams who finished in the top 10, and 2 more ranked teams - 6 out of 9 games played. Boat-raced them all. #8 Penn 61-0, #9 ND 48-0, #2 Navy 32-13, #6 Mich 28-7.
1977: An incredibly talented team. Rutledge, Nathan, Newsome, Dwight Stephenson, Bob Cryder, Johnny Davis, Jim Bunch, Major Oglvie, Barry Krause, Wayne Hamilton, McGriff, Marty Lions, Don McNeal, Mike Kramer, E.J. Junior, Murray Legg, Wingo, Terry Jones.
Lost one game early in the year by 7 vs Neb in Lincoln. Jeff Rutledge threw 1000 ints (actually 5), including on in the end zone late from ~10 yard line.
Alabama finished #2 behind ND and Bama fans complained because OM beat ND early 14-13. But they beat 4 ranked teams, including 2 in the top 10, including #4 Texas. Alabama beat 2 ranked teams in the teens.
1962: Alabama lost 1 game by one point vs GT at Grant Field. Coach Bryant went for 2 late and barely missed. Then Alabama recovered the onside kick and Namath drove them to ~15 yard line, well within Tim Davis’ range but Namath threw an interception to effectively end the game.
This likely cost Alabama a NC since they were number 1 late in the season. They finished #5.
I was a 13 y/o boy who sobbed and wept like a 10 y/o girl at the GT loss, Bobby Dodd’s only win vs Bryant at Alabama in 7 tries.
2016: If they had held on this would have been considered one of the great college teams of all time, with the D making a case for the best.
Most have been fair to Jalen but he was really handicapped by Sarkisian’s abandonment of the running game after Bo went out. He had Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs to run the ball. Why SS? Jalen was also let down 4 or 5 times by drops from his WRs on 3rd down conversions, especially Dieter. Just hitting 2 or 3 would have changed the game. This is rarely mentioned.
1945: This team has been overlooked because of time, but they were great. They finished number 3 behind undefeated Army. They were #1 on total D (110 ypg, and #2 in total O at ~421 ypg). They outscored the opposition 430-80.
They had 10 of their 25 lettermen eventually drafted by the NFL), including the #1, 4, 5 players, Gilmer, Mancha, Tew) following the ‘47 season. At least 2 of them, Gilmer and Mancha, are in the CFB HOF. It was coached by HOF Coach Frank Thomas.
They played 4 ranked teams, none in the top 10, and beat them LSU 26-7, UTe 25-7, UGA 28-14 and USC 34-14, also stomped a decent 6-3 MSU team 55-13.
Army deservedly won the NC: they beat 4 teams who finished in the top 10, and 2 more ranked teams - 6 out of 9 games played. Boat-raced them all. #8 Penn 61-0, #9 ND 48-0, #2 Navy 32-13, #6 Mich 28-7.
1977: An incredibly talented team. Rutledge, Nathan, Newsome, Dwight Stephenson, Bob Cryder, Johnny Davis, Jim Bunch, Major Oglvie, Barry Krause, Wayne Hamilton, McGriff, Marty Lions, Don McNeal, Mike Kramer, E.J. Junior, Murray Legg, Wingo, Terry Jones.
Lost one game early in the year by 7 vs Neb in Lincoln. Jeff Rutledge threw 1000 ints (actually 5), including on in the end zone late from ~10 yard line.
Alabama finished #2 behind ND and Bama fans complained because OM beat ND early 14-13. But they beat 4 ranked teams, including 2 in the top 10, including #4 Texas. Alabama beat 2 ranked teams in the teens.
1962: Alabama lost 1 game by one point vs GT at Grant Field. Coach Bryant went for 2 late and barely missed. Then Alabama recovered the onside kick and Namath drove them to ~15 yard line, well within Tim Davis’ range but Namath threw an interception to effectively end the game.
This likely cost Alabama a NC since they were number 1 late in the season. They finished #5.
I was a 13 y/o boy who sobbed and wept like a 10 y/o girl at the GT loss, Bobby Dodd’s only win vs Bryant at Alabama in 7 tries.
Last edited:
Yeah I remember. It started off rough, but if i recall, it was 42-21 in the fourth quarter. A&M got some cheap points in the end.
We were probably never in danger of losing...but damn, him and Evans that day......good Lord, we'd still have nightmares about that if we'd lost.
2016 is particularly upsetting in retrospect. That defense was so good. It is the best I've witnessed outside of 1992. Unfortunately, they ran out of gas in the end.
I'm glad 1945 was mentioned. Yes, Army had the better season, but their roster was also abnormally bolstered by some historical event...
1966 was galling.
1977 was as well.
1994 was a great team as well. I hate the way that SEC championship game ended, and I would have liked to see what we would have done vs. Florida State in the Sugar Bowl.
2013 will always be a thorn in our side as well. We would have probably destroyed Florida State. I give Auburn credit, but they were not an elite team that year. Had we gone to the Rose Bowl with a 3-peat on the line, I have no doubt that team would have won. But AU's lightning in a bottle killed our mojo.
I'm glad 1945 was mentioned. Yes, Army had the better season, but their roster was also abnormally bolstered by some historical event...
1966 was galling.
1977 was as well.
1994 was a great team as well. I hate the way that SEC championship game ended, and I would have liked to see what we would have done vs. Florida State in the Sugar Bowl.
2013 will always be a thorn in our side as well. We would have probably destroyed Florida State. I give Auburn credit, but they were not an elite team that year. Had we gone to the Rose Bowl with a 3-peat on the line, I have no doubt that team would have won. But AU's lightning in a bottle killed our mojo.
2010! Look at all that NFL talent, would have been a repeat and with 2011 and 2012 would've been four in a row
The 2016 pick play team. I'll always be mad at Lane for falling apart and getting run out of town. That defense was ridiculous - I think it was better than 1992 given the advancement of offenses.
Tough questions.
Only undefeated team in my lifetime was '77, but I don't remember see I was only 7 at the time. First one I remember was '79 goal line stand!
1 loss teams? I thought the '21 and '22 teams were pretty doggone good. It's a shame Bryce didn't win a NC as a starter.
And, as someone said, the 2018 that lost Tua.
Only undefeated team in my lifetime was '77, but I don't remember see I was only 7 at the time. First one I remember was '79 goal line stand!
1 loss teams? I thought the '21 and '22 teams were pretty doggone good. It's a shame Bryce didn't win a NC as a starter.
And, as someone said, the 2018 that lost Tua.
I don't see 2010 as a great team. The most talented one we ever had. But they never coalesced into an all-for-one / one-for-all team.
He should have got a shot in ‘22
That was one of the better 2 loss Bama teams and especially when Bryce started to get some zip back on his passes after struggling with his shoulder all year.
We got ROBBED of a win in Knoxville and the LSU loss in OT was just a tough close loss.
I don’t know if we could or would have won a NC that year but we should have had a shot.
This is one of those times when I take the contrarian position to most of our fans regarding something about our team. It's rare, but this is one of the most noteworthy. I don't think the 2010 team was BAD by any stretch, but I think our fans console themselves with false hope in "if only we hadn't had to play all those teams with a week off before playing us."
But even if that's a legitimate point when it comes to South Carolina, it falls by the wayside in the other two losses. We had a week off before the LSU game, too, and we turned the ball over twice, got outgained by about 100 yards, and gave up 225 yards rushing. It might make us FEEL better to argue fatigue - and it was wrong we got handed that schedule - but it's very difficult to argue that that's why we lost to LSU.
And it's impossible to cite fatigue in the Auburn game given we led the game, 24-0. Auburn being off a week had nothing to do with Mark Ingram's...I mean, I STILL can't believe it and it's been 15 years.....it's like when Okie State says that their basketball coaches dying was why they lost to Iowa State. Really? They led, 24-7, in the second half.
Look at the game stats for that Iron Bowl:
- we had 6 more first downs
- 124 more yards
- our QB threw for 377 yards (we totaled 400 passing)
- and although we had a lot more penalties, we only had 10 more penalty yards
- and the game was at home
Seriously, they were better than us at one thing, turnovers, and that was 2-1.
I put the 2010 team in the category of, "Listened to too much SportsCenter, didn't do enough on the field, and never became a team." It's TRAGIC what it took to build the teamwork we had in 2011.
1966. Not even close IMO. 1964 title was decided before the bowl game. Bama lost the bowl game but had already been named the national champion. Sportswriters centered in the midwest weren't going to allow that to happen again so they agreed to name the champion AFTER the bowls in future years. 1965 after the bowl games they HAD to name Bama the champion or lose all credibility. 1966 going into the lastr weekend of the season ND and Mich. State were ranked 1 & 2. Undefeateed juggernaut Bama was #3. Fearsome Nebraska was #4. ND & Mich. State played to a 10-10 tie in their final game of the regular season. ND wasn't going to bowl games at that time; and MSU was on probation and couldn't go to a bowl. #3 Bama destroyed #4 Nebraska in the bowl game. Then sporrtswriters voted. ND #1, MSU #2, and Bama #3. Midwestern sportswriters could not allow a southern team to win 3 championships in a row.
The 1973 Alabama team that lost in the Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame 24-23 will always be the one that sticks in my gut.
I still have flashbacks of Al Hunter’s kickoff return for a TD and Tom Clement’s pass to a sophomore TE Robin Weber (he beat Tyrone King on the coverage) from the two yard line. The “other”’ TE on that play was a guy name Dave Casper.
Alabama had driven the ball late and faced a fourth and 18 near mid field. We punted the ball dead inside the Notre Dame five yard line. Notre Dame was called for roughing the punter on that punt. It was a 15 yard penalty but not considered a personal foul and automatic first down in those days. Bryant chose to decline the penalty and play defense instead of opting to gamble on a 4th and three yards.
Two plays and ND got basically nothing. Then the 3rd down play with about two minutes left. We had used up our timeouts so that basically ended the game. What could have been…..
I was 13 years old at the time and watched the game at a New Year's Eve party. Yeah…the rest of the night and the next day pretty much “sucked”.
I still have flashbacks of Al Hunter’s kickoff return for a TD and Tom Clement’s pass to a sophomore TE Robin Weber (he beat Tyrone King on the coverage) from the two yard line. The “other”’ TE on that play was a guy name Dave Casper.
Alabama had driven the ball late and faced a fourth and 18 near mid field. We punted the ball dead inside the Notre Dame five yard line. Notre Dame was called for roughing the punter on that punt. It was a 15 yard penalty but not considered a personal foul and automatic first down in those days. Bryant chose to decline the penalty and play defense instead of opting to gamble on a 4th and three yards.
Two plays and ND got basically nothing. Then the 3rd down play with about two minutes left. We had used up our timeouts so that basically ended the game. What could have been…..
I was 13 years old at the time and watched the game at a New Year's Eve party. Yeah…the rest of the night and the next day pretty much “sucked”.
What became known as the “Tie One for the Gipper” game. Notre Dame ran the ball on five out of six plays to run out the clock and preserve a 10-10 tie. Granted ND was playing a backup QB and had several injuries on offense. But Parseghian knew that Midwest block of voters would give a ND with a tie a “nod” over an undefeated team from the southeast.
Yep. Talent and Team aren’t necessarily mutually inclusive. That 2010 group was talented without question. But they never performed up to their potential as a team.
Amazon Prime Day Deals for TideFans!
Hangtime University of Alabama - Alabama Crimson Tide Bama Nation - University of Alabama Route Sign
Get this and many more items during Amazon Prime Day Deals (July 8-11)!
Get a Prime Free Trial!
