I am fairly sure that right before Antonio Langham's contact with an agent before the 1993 Sugar Bowl resulted in our having to forfeit all our wins in the 1993 season --which were ten (10), if I remember correctly -- we were third in the all-time list of winning programs, behind Michigan and Notre Dame, and Texas was right behind us at fourth. The subtraction by the NCAA of our 1993 wins put us fourth and made Texas third.
Now, my friend, this changes the perspective on the situation between Bryant and Royal, doesn't it? They were surely 'neck and neck' about the time Bryant learned the Wishbone from Royal in 1970-71, and Bryant, by winning as much as he did, may have pushed Bama beyond Texas while Royal was coaching Texas -- I do not have the details of that, but I do believe that both Perkins and Stallings were both bequeathed a third place all-time ranking by Bryant, which was lost by Stallings.
That started a slide that has us now sixth in the all-time wins column. If we beat Texas, maybe this will signal our climb back to where we were -- at least third on the all-time list. That is, if we can keep the NCAA boys from finding reasons to keep us from getting there.