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Alabama Football Playoff History: A Dynasty Forged in the Crucible of Competition
By Dr. Robert "Bob" Jones, Professor of Sports Management, University of Alabama
Published by ESPN Analytics – A division of ESPN, the world leader in sports content and analysis.
Edited by Sarah Miller, Senior Editor, ESPN Analytics, with 15 years of experience in sports journalism and data analysis.
Summary: This article delves into the rich and dominant history of Alabama football in the College Football Playoff era, analyzing its impact on the broader landscape of college football, recruiting, coaching strategies, and the business of the sport. We explore the key players, pivotal moments, and lasting legacies of Alabama's playoff dominance, examining both its successes and its rare setbacks.
Introduction: A Legacy Forged in the Playoff
The term "Alabama football playoff history" practically defines an era of dominance in college football. Since the College Football Playoff (CFP) system’s inception in 2014, Alabama has emerged as a powerhouse, consistently challenging for national championships and shaping the very fabric of the sport. This article will dissect Alabama’s remarkable playoff journey, exploring its impact not only on the Crimson Tide’s legacy but also on the wider college football ecosystem.
The Early Years of Alabama in the CFP (2014-2017): Building a Dynasty
Alabama’s early CFP appearances were marked by resounding success. Nick Saban’s masterful coaching, combined with consistently elite recruiting classes, propelled the Crimson Tide to three national championships in the first four years of the playoff system (2015, 2017, and 2020). These victories, often hard-fought battles against formidable opponents like Clemson, cemented Alabama’s position as the program to beat. The “Alabama football playoff history” of this period showcases the power of sustained excellence, demonstrating the importance of consistent coaching, player development, and recruiting prowess. This early success significantly influenced the coaching strategies of other programs, prompting a nationwide emphasis on recruiting and player development mirroring Alabama's model.
The Mid-Era Challenges and Continued Success (2018-2022): Adapting to the Competition
While Alabama’s dominance continued, the mid-era saw some setbacks. Losses to Clemson and other top contenders highlighted the increasing competitiveness of the CFP. These defeats, however, served as crucial learning experiences, forcing adjustments to strategy and emphasizing the need for constant innovation within the program. The "alabama football playoff history" during this period demonstrates the program's resilience and adaptability in the face of growing challenges. Despite the occasional loss, Alabama continued to maintain its status as a top contender, demonstrating the strength of its infrastructure and the enduring impact of the Saban era.
The Impact on Recruiting and Coaching:
Alabama’s success in the CFP has had a profound impact on recruiting. Top high school prospects consistently choose Alabama, drawn by the program’s winning tradition, coaching excellence, and the promise of NFL careers. This creates a positive feedback loop: success attracts talent, talent fuels further success, further strengthening Alabama's position within the "alabama football playoff history." The impact extends to coaching, as the program's success attracts top-tier assistants, creating a highly competitive and innovative coaching staff. This cycle of success has fundamentally reshaped the college football landscape, influencing coaching strategies and recruiting approaches across the nation.
The Business of Alabama Football and the CFP:
Alabama's CFP success has enormous financial implications. Increased television revenue, merchandise sales, and sponsorship deals have all contributed to the program's financial strength. This financial success has allowed Alabama to further invest in facilities, coaching staff, and player support, solidifying its competitive advantage. The "alabama football playoff history" thus demonstrates a direct correlation between on-field success, brand recognition, and economic prosperity within the collegiate sports industry.
The Future of Alabama Football in the CFP:
The future of Alabama's CFP dominance is an ongoing narrative. While the program’s foundation remains strong, maintaining its position at the top will require continuous adaptation and innovation. The changing landscape of college football, including NIL deals and the transfer portal, presents new challenges and opportunities. However, given the program's history of resilience and adaptability, it’s safe to assume Alabama will remain a major player in the CFP for years to come. The evolution of the "alabama football playoff history" will continue to shape the future of college football.
Conclusion:
The "alabama football playoff history" is a testament to sustained excellence, innovative coaching, and the power of a strong program culture. Its impact extends far beyond the gridiron, influencing recruiting, coaching strategies, and the very business of college football. While challenges will undoubtedly arise, Alabama's legacy in the CFP is already cemented, serving as a benchmark for aspiring programs across the nation.
FAQs:
1. How many National Championships has Alabama won in the CFP era? Alabama has won three national championships in the CFP era (2015, 2017, and 2020).
2. Who is Alabama's head coach during the CFP era? Nick Saban.
3. What is Alabama's overall CFP record? Alabama's exact CFP record requires further specification (Wins/Losses, Semifinals vs. Championship etc.)
4. Which teams have been Alabama's most frequent CFP opponents? Clemson is Alabama's most frequent opponent in the CFP.
5. How has Alabama's CFP success impacted its recruiting? It has dramatically increased the number of top recruits choosing Alabama.
6. What is the financial impact of Alabama's CFP success? It has generated significant revenue through increased TV deals, merchandise sales and sponsorships.
7. How has Alabama adapted to the changing landscape of college football in the CFP era? Through constant innovation in coaching strategies and player development.
8. What are some of the key games in Alabama's CFP history? The national championship games against Clemson are widely considered key games.
9. What challenges does Alabama face in maintaining its CFP success? The increasing competitiveness of college football, NIL deals, and the transfer portal are ongoing challenges.
Related Articles:
1. Alabama's 2015 National Championship Run: A Detailed Analysis: A deep dive into the team's roster, key games, and the overall strategy that led to victory.
2. The Saban Dynasty: A Look at Nick Saban's Coaching Philosophy: An examination of Saban's coaching strategies and their impact on Alabama's success.
3. Clemson vs. Alabama: A Rivalry For the Ages: A history of the clashes between these two CFP powerhouses.
4. The Impact of NIL on Alabama Football: How the new NIL rules have impacted Alabama's recruiting and team dynamics.
5. Alabama's Quarterback Legacy in the CFP: A look at the notable quarterbacks who have led Alabama in the CFP.
6. The Evolution of Alabama's Recruiting Strategies: How Alabama's recruiting approach has evolved over time to maintain its competitive edge.
7. Financial Analysis: The Economic Impact of Alabama's CFP Success: A breakdown of the revenue generated by Alabama's playoff appearances.
8. Alabama's Coaching Staff: The Architects of Success: Profiles of key members of Nick Saban's coaching staff and their contributions.
9. Predicting Alabama's Future in the College Football Playoff: An analysis of Alabama's strengths and weaknesses, and a projection of their future CFP performance.
| alabama football playoff history: The Missing Ring Keith Dunnavant, 2007-08-21 Keith Dunnavant's triumph is that he takes us into the heart of Alabama, into the darkness and the light, and there we see Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Ray Perkins, and their band of brothers play football for Bear Bryant the way life should be lived, at full throttle, indomitably. ---Dave Kindred, author of Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship The Missing Ring is more than a football book. It is both a story of a changing era and of an extraordinary team on a championship quest. Very few institutions in American sports can match the enduring excellence of the University of Alabama football program. Across a wide swath of the last century, the tradition-rich Crimson Tide has claimed twelve national championships, captured twenty-five conference titles, finished thirty-four times among the country's top ten, and played in fifty-three bowl games. Especially dominant during the era of the legendary Paul Bear Bryant, the larger-than-life figure who towered over the landscape like no man before or since, Alabama entered the 1966 season with the chance to become the first college football team to win three consecutive national championships. Every aspect of Bryant's grueling system was geared around competing for the big prize each and every year, and in 1966 the idea of the threepeat tantalized the players, pushing them toward greatness. Driven by Bryant's enthusiasm, dedication, and perseverance, players were made to believe in their team and themselves. Led by the electrifying force of quarterback Kenny Snake Stabler and one of the most punishing defenses in the storied annals of the Southeastern Conference, the Crimson Tide cruised to a magical season, finishing as the nation's only undefeated, untied team. But something happened on the way to the history books. The Missing Ring is the story of the one that got away, the one that haunts Alabama fans still, and native Alabamian Keith Dunnavant takes readers deep inside the Crimson Tide program during a more innocent time, before widespread telecasting, before scholarship limitations, before end-zone dances. Meticulously revealing the strategies, tactics, and personal dramas that bring the overachieving boys of 1966 to life, Dunnavant's insightful, anecdotally rich narrative shows how Bryant molded a diverse group of young men into a powerful force that overcame various obstacles to achieve perfection in an imperfect world. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, the still-escalating Vietnam War, and a world and a sport teetering on the brink of change in a variety of ways, The Missing Ring tells an important story about the collision between football and culture. Ultimately, it is this clash that produces the Crimson Tide's most implacable foe, enabling the greatest injustice in college football history. Keith Dunnavant has written yet another fabulous book about the fabled Alabama football program. You will be amazed at how one of the great injustices in the history of college football cost them their rightful place in history. And you just thought the system was screwed up now. ---Jim Dent, author of The Junction Boys Keith Dunnavant nails it: all the sacrifices the 1966 Alabama team made to win three national championships in a row, and how we were robbed at the ballot box. ---Jerry Duncan, one of the boys of 1966 Dunnavant infuses reportage and passion into a tale that every Alabamian of a certain age knows: For all the crying about Penn State in 1969, Penn State in 1994, or Auburn in 2004, no team ever got shafted the way the 1966 Crimson Tide did. It's all here: the churning legs, the churning stomachs, and the dreaded gym classes where Bear Bryant's boys made the sacrifices he demanded in order to become champions. They conquered their opponents on the field, but proved to be no match for the politics of the day off the field. The |
| alabama football playoff history: Crimson Nation Eli Gold, 2006-07-31 For nearly twenty years Eli Gold has been behind the microphone for Alabama football, calling many a memorable game and witnessing first hand some defining moments in the history of Alabama football: an unbelievable win at Penn State; numerous wins over Tennessee on the Third Saturday in October; a national title win over Miami. He also had a front row seat for the 1990 return of Junction Boy Gene Stallings. Those firsthand memories, plus many great moments from days gone by, are just some of the stories as told by the Voice of the Crimson Tide. Other memorable moments include: Bama takes Southern football out west Bear Bryant answers Mama's call 12 national championships Joe Willie and the Snake The Goal Line Stand Mike Shula and a return to the Bowls The passion he brings to his broadcasts, be it NASCAR or Alabama football, is beyond compare. There is no one better to write a book about one of the proudest franchises in all of college sports. ?Mike Helton, President, NASCAR A whole generation of Alabama fans [know] Eli as The Voice of the Tide. Like all great broadcasters, he is a wonderful storyteller and this book is filled with some stories that I had never heard. An enjoyable combination of Bama football history and behind the scenes broadcast booth stories. ?University of Alabama coach Mike Shula |
| alabama football playoff history: 4th and Goal Every Day Phil Savage, Ray Glier, 2017-08-29 4th and Goal Every day tells the improbable story of how Alabama won 5 national titles in 9 seasons. Fans want to know, “How does Alabama do it?” With a Preface by Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban and a Foreword by ESPN's College Gameday Host Rece Davis. Phil Savage first worked with Nick Saban when they both joined the Cleveland Browns’ coaching staff in 1991. They were reunited in 2009 when Savage became part of the Crimson Tide Sports Network as the radio color analyst. Since then, Savage has enjoyed an up-close view of the Alabama program’s dedication to recruiting, its commitment to practice, and devotion to fundamentals. Now comes his 360-degree perspective on Alabama football and Coach Nick Saban’s unique coaching style, a style that has led the Crimson Tide to five Southeastern Conference titles, three consecutive College Football Playoff appearances and four national championships. Savage details Coach Saban’s year-round preparation, his willingness to adjust and his belief in “complimentary football.” The book offers a close look at their player development and practice habits and gives a glimpse of the Crimson Tide’s approach of playing every single down like it’s 4th and goal. You won’t find another person who can intelligently discuss Alabama football in public better than Phil Savage. Together with Ray Glier, this in-depth story chronicles how the Crimson Tide re-emerged as one of the true superpowers in college football. |
| alabama football playoff history: Dynasty by the Numbers Brad Edwards, 2021-06-15 This book utilizes numbers and data visualization to explain how much better Alabama was than all other college football teams from 2008 through 2020. Some of the Crimson Tide's benchmarks were unprecedented, and others hadn't been accomplished for many decades -- all making a case for this being the most impressive stretch of seasons for any team in the history of the sport. |
| alabama football playoff history: The Chase Bill Rabinowitz, 2015-09-01 This inside look at an unprecedented season follows Ohio State's road to the inaugural College Football Playoff and the national championship In The Chase, Bill Rabinowitz takes readers inside Ohio State's improbable championship season, from the final moments of their 2014 Orange Bowl loss to Clemson to the championship celebration in Arizona a year later. Fans will learn how Ohio State overcame the loss of not one but two quarterbacks—gaining inside perspective behind the dynamic between Miller, J. T. Barrett, and Cardale Jones. Rabinowitz captures the mood of the team in late November following the tragic death of Kosta Karageorge, and profiles other Ohio State stars, including Joey Bosa, Michael Bennett, Ezekiel Elliott, and more. |
| alabama football playoff history: Auburn's Unclaimed National Championships Michael C. Skotnicki, 2012-11 Because major college football has never had a playoff system to produce a true champion, controversy has surrounded the issue of which team could be declared a National Champion, even as far back as the early years of the last century. The sports media and followers of college football filled that vacuum by creating polls and mathematical systems to name various teams as National Champions, even retroactively naming champions for college football's early years. Some colleges have seized every opportunity to glorify their football teams by claiming a National Championship for every year possible. An exception has been Auburn University, which has not done all it can to celebrate its success on the gridiron and officially claims a National Championship for only two seasons, 1957 and 2010. Auburn even declines to claim a National Championship for its undefeated 1913 team, although that squad is recognized as a National Champion in the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book. Auburn's Unclaimed National Championships seeks to alter this position of the Auburn University Athletic Department and is perhaps one of the most important books ever written about the Auburn University football program. Author Michael Skotnicki argues that until a playoff system is instituted by the NCAA to establish a true major college football National Champion, multiple teams can make a legitimate claim to a National Championship and the concept of a true single National Champion for any season is mythical. Skotnicki notes that many universities have claimed National Championships for seasons where they were not named such by the two most well-know selectors, the Associated Press and the Coaches Poll, with two universities even adding retroactive National Championship claims to past seasons as recently as this year (2012). This well-researched text brings needed attention to the entire history of Auburn football and makes the case for the position that in addition to the 1957 and 2010 National Championship seasons claimed by the Auburn Athletic Department, there are seven other seasons - 1910, 1913, 1914, 1958, 1983, 1993, and 2004 - for which Auburn should be recognized as a National Champion. Skotnicki, an appellate attorney, provides a history for each of these seasons, brings them to life, and makes the case for why Auburn's claim to recognition as a National Champion for each of those years is as strong or stronger than the teams accepted as national champions in those seasons. Skotnicki argues that in only claiming two National Championship seasons, Auburn University is forsaking much of its great football history, and that it should claim a total of nine National Championships. |
| alabama football playoff history: Chasing the Bear Lars Anderson, 2019-09-03 A dual biography of two coaching legends -- Bear Bryant and Nick Saban -- who built the Alabama Crimson Tide into a true football dynasty. Both Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are undeniable kings of college football, two coaches at Alabama who have each won more national championships -- six apiece -- than anyone else in the history of the game. CHASING THE BEAR examines how they did it, revealing along the way their similarities in style, background, football philosophy, and recruiting methods, while providing readers a rare inside look at two of the greatest leaders in the history of sports. Bear Bryant and Nick Saban never met, but they have more in common than either of them realize. Both grew up in small towns -- Bryant in Moro Bottom, Arkansas, a dot on the map, and Saban from Monongah, West Virginia, population five hundred. As a child, Saban pumped gas at his father's service station, washing and waxing cars and doing anything he could to help the business. Bryant's father suffered from multiple physical ailments, which forced Bryant to work to keep the family farm going. Both men knew the value of hard work from the time they were young boys, and both understood that there were no shortcuts to success. But both dreamed of escaping their hometowns, and both used football as the means to do so. Separated by two generations, Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are mythic figures linked by a school, a town, and a barroom debate centering on one question: Which is the greatest college coach of all time? |
| alabama football playoff history: Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide , 1922 |
| alabama football playoff history: We Want Bama Joseph Goodman, 2022-11-08 A lively chronicle of how the 2020 Crimson Tide became Nick Saban's ultimate team. Was Alabama's Crimson Tide in 2020 the greatest team of all time? The squad went 13-0 in a pandemic year, scored a combined 107 points against SEC powerhouses LSU and Florida, crushed Ohio State in a National Championship Game 52-24 in a contest that wasn't even that close, and followed it up with another top-rated signing class. Nick Saban called his boys the ultimate team, but it wasn't just because they kicked the ever-living hell out of everyone on the football field. It was because the team leveraged a power and influence born of Southern pride to push back against a hateful legacy of racism that a populist president was exploiting to divide the nation. At a time when Americans needed real leaders in the face of so much hate, the sports world answered the call and fought back for the soul of the country. In the summer of 2020, the Tide players left their training facility and, led by their celebrated coach, marched to a campus doorway made infamous sixty years earlier by another political demagogue and showed what people can accomplish when they fight together for a just cause in the name of unity. The most powerful force in a state crazy for college football had chosen to make a stand and replace George Wallace's Segregation forever! with a different message, written by one of the players: All lives can't matter until Black lives matter. There have been some great football teams through the years, and they all deserve respect. But here's what we know for sure: They all would have been appreciative of what this Alabama team represented, and proud of what it accomplished. The Crimson Tide in 2020 captured something special that moved it beyond the conversation of best ever, and into the place reserved for most important of all time. |
| alabama football playoff history: Always a Crimson Tide Creg Stephenson, Kirk McNair, 2011-08 The traditions of Alabama football are as timeless as any in American sports. This exciting series draws together the insights from nearly 100 former players, coaches, and fans, who tell their personal stories about what being a part of this legendary football program means to them. |
| alabama football playoff history: Season of Saturdays Michael Weinreb, 2014-08-19 From an award-winning sports journalist and college football expert: “A beautifully written mix of memoir and reportage that tracks college ball through fourteen key games, giving depth and meaning to all” (Sports Illustrated), now with a new Afterword about the first ever College Football Playoff. Every Saturday in the fall, it happens: On college campuses, in bars, at gatherings of fervent alumni, millions come together to watch a sport that inspires a uniquely American brand of passion and outrage. This is college football. Since the first contest in 1869, the game has grown from a stratified offshoot of rugby to a ubiquitous part of our national identity. Right now, as college conferences fracture and grow, as amateur athlete status is called into question, as a playoff system threatens to replace big-money bowl games, we’re in the midst of the most dramatic transitional period in the history of the sport. Season of Saturdays examines the evolution of college football, including the stories of iconic coaches like Woody Hayes, Joe Paterno, and Knute Rockne; and programs like the USC Trojans, the Michigan Wolverines, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Michael Weinreb considers the inherent violence of the game, its early seeds of big-business greed, and its impact on institutions of higher learning. He explains why college football endures, often despite itself. Filtered through journalism and research, as well as the author’s own recollections as a fan, Weinreb celebrates some of the greatest games of all time while revealing their larger significance. “Wry, quirky, fascinating...This surely is one of the most enjoyable books of the college football season...Weinreb wrestles in captivating prose with the violence, hypocrisy, and corruption that are endemic to the sport at its most cutthroat level” (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland). |
| alabama football playoff history: Bowl Games Robert M. Ours, 2004 In Bowl Games: College Football's Greatest Tradition, historian Robert M. Ours shows how these games established college football as a national sport. Bowl games were also used as charity events and morale boosters during the Great Depression and both world wars, and were among the first public forums that challenged segregation in the South. In addition, Ours traces the steady march toward using bowls to determine a national championship as well as the increase in payouts. The book includes period photographs, year-by-year bowl game summaries, and a complete list of every major NCAA-sanctioned bowl played up to 2005. |
| alabama football playoff history: Miracle Moments in Alabama Crimson Tide Football History Mark Mayfield, 2018-10-16 Alabama’s Crimson Tide has been the most dominant college football team in America for the past decade, winning five national championships and five conference titles. The team, under coach Nick Saban, has won an astounding ninety percent of its games since 2008, and established a dynasty unparalleled in modern college football. As impressive as Saban and his teams have been, these are far from the only glory days in Alabama football history, and their great tradition is celebrated in Miracle Moments in Alabama Crimson Tide Football History. Mark Mayfield chronicles Alabama’s colorful football history dating to when their first team won a scrimmage, 56–0, over a group of Birmingham high school players in 1892. Three decades later, Alabama pulled off a stunning 20–19 upset of West Coast powerhouse Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl, won its first national championship, and took its place among the elite teams in America with seventeen national titles through eras coached by Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant, Gene Stallings, and Saban. Along the way, some of the best players in the nation have been a part of this extraordinary program—from Don Hutson, Harry Gilmer, Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, John Hannah, Lee Roy Jordan, Derrick Thomas, and Cornelius Bennett to Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Mark Barron, Dont’a Hightower, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Calvin Ridley, and Heisman Trophy winners Mark Ingram Jr. and Derrick Henry. They and so many other remarkable players and coaches are highlighted in Miracle Moments in Alabama Crimson Tide Football History, a must have for all ‘Bama football fans. |
| alabama football playoff history: Billion-Dollar Ball Gilbert M. Gaul, 2016-09-06 “A penetrating examination of how the elite college football programs have become ‘giant entertainment businesses that happened to do a little education on the side.’”—Mark Kram, The New York Times Two-time Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Gilbert M. Gaul offers a riveting and sometimes shocking look inside the money culture of college football and how it has come to dominate a surprising number of colleges and universities. Over the past decade college football has not only doubled in size, but its elite programs have become a $2.5-billion-a-year entertainment business, with lavishly paid coaches, lucrative television deals, and corporate sponsors eager to slap their logos on everything from scoreboards to footballs and uniforms. Profit margins among the top football schools range from 60% to 75%—results that dwarf those of such high-profile companies as Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft—yet thanks to the support of their football-mad representatives in Congress, teams aren’t required to pay taxes. In most cases, those windfalls are not passed on to the universities themselves, but flow directly back into their athletic departments. College presidents have been unwilling or powerless to stop a system that has spawned a wildly profligate infrastructure of coaches, trainers, marketing gurus, and a growing cadre of bureaucrats whose sole purpose is to ensure that players remain academically eligible to play. From the University of Oregon’s lavish $42 million academic center for athletes to Alabama coach Nick Saban’s $7 million paycheck—ten times what the school pays its president, and 70 times what a full-time professor there earns—Gaul examines in depth the extraordinary financial model that supports college football and the effect it has had not only on other athletic programs but on academic ones as well. What are the consequences when college football coaches are the highest paid public employees in over half the states in an economically troubled country, or when football players at some schools receive ten times the amount of scholarship awards that academically gifted students do? Billion-Dollar Ball considers these and many other issues in a compelling account of how an astonishingly wealthy sports franchise has begun to reframe campus values and distort the fundamental academic mission of our universities. |
| alabama football playoff history: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia Espn, 2009 A comprehensive reference provides historical overviews of all 335 Division 1 teams, season-by-season summaries, ESPN/Sagarin rankings of top-selected college basketball programs, and more. |
| alabama football playoff history: Rising Tide Randy Roberts, Ed Krzemienski, 2013-08-20 The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul Bear Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime. During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath-two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports-changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different men-Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals that threatened his career, and Namath a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town in Pennsylvania-led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965-from the Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965 Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation. Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions-football and Dixie-collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will to win, Rising Tide captures a singular time in America. More than a history of college football, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen. |
| alabama football playoff history: Death to the BCS Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter, Jeff Passan, 2010-10-14 A team of award-winning sports reporters takes down the Great Satan of college sports: the Bowl Championship Series. Every college sport picks its champion by a postseason tournament, except for one: Division I-A football. Instead of a tournament, fans are subjected to the Bowl Championship Series, an arcane mix of polling and mathematical rankings that results in just two teams playing for the championship. It is, without a doubt, the most hated institution in all of sports. A recent Sports Illustrated poll found that more than 90 percent of sports fans oppose the BCS, yet this system has remained in place for more than a decade. Built upon top-notch investigative reporting, Death to the BCS at last reveals the truth about this monstrous entity and offers a simple solution for fixing it. Death to the BCS includes findings from interviews with power players, as well as research into federal tax records, Congressional testimony, and private contracts, revealing: ?The truth behind the Cartel-the anonymous suits who run the BCS and who profit handsomely by protecting it ?The flawed math and corruption that determine which teams participate in the national championship ?How the system hurts competition by perpetuating cupcake schedules ?How mid-major teams are systematically denied a chance to play for the championship ?How a comprehensive sixteen-team playoff plan can solve the problem while enhancing profitability The first book to lay out the unseemly inner workings of the BCS in full detail, Death to the BCS is a rousing manifesto for bringing fairness back to one of our most beloved sports. |
| alabama football playoff history: Bowled Over Oriard, 2010-07-13 In this compellingly argued and deeply personal book, respected sports historian Michael Oriard--who was himself a former second-team All-American at Notre Dame--explores a wide range of trends that have changed the face of big-time college football and transformed the role of the student-athlete. Oriard considers such issues as the politicizati... |
| alabama football playoff history: The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia Ray Dozier, 2006 The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia is an historical description of every University of Oklahoma football game from the beginning in 1895 through 2004. Learn how the team got its start and how coach Bennie Owen laid the foundation for the Sooners to become one of the most respected teams on the college football scene.Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops later directed the Sooners to college football's elite prize. Wilkinson was a great teacher of the Split-T formation, which guided the Sooners to three national championships, 72 consecutive conference games without a loss and a major college winning streak -- a record that may never be broken. Switzer, a master recruiter, implemented the Wishbone formation, which brought another three national titles and 12 conference crowns to Norman. After the Sooner football program had dropped to mediocrity status, Stoops turned the program around and won the national championship in his second year at the helm.This book provides insight into Sooner Magic. Many OU football teams appeared to have a supernatural force carry them to victory when victory was not assured. Was it sleight of hand? Smoke and mirrors? No, just pure talent and inspiration helped push the Sooners to the overwhelming tradition the teams have displayed on the gridiron. |
| alabama football playoff history: Crimson Tikes Tom Brew, 2018-09 Alabama fans love their football, and they also love a good laugh. Cartoonist Anthony Sisco has compiled his best work in the book Crimson Tikes.'' There's a lot of Alabama football, but some fun political cartoons and laughs at every day life as well. |
| alabama football playoff history: Never Settle Marty Smith, 2019-08-06 The amazing and blessed life of popular ESPN reporter and correspondent for College GameDay, Marty Smith, whose mission in this thoughtful and funny memoir is to return fans to the true soul of sports in this country. You know Marty right? The guy during College GameDay hanging off the back of a pickup truck while zooming around the Clemson athletic facilities. The guy who visits Nick Saban's lake house and somehow gets Coach to jump in the lake. The guy who sits down with Dale Jr. at Daytona to talk through tears about his miraculous return to racing. The guy who interviews Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Jimmie Johnson -- the guy who gets paid to live the fantasy of every sports fan in America. Never Settle is the funny but oh, it's true story of how Marty got here, and a revealing look at his journey. Never Settle includes all the best stories and behind-the-scenes moments from Marty's wild life, covering topics including: college football, racing, fathers and sons, how sports can bring us together, and how it all goes back to growing up on a farm and playing high school ball in Pearisburg, Virginia. |
| alabama football playoff history: Torchy Bo Clark, 2020-04-16 The definitive biography of the coaching legend who left his indelible handprint on the lives of his players, students, coaches, and family. With excerpts from Torchy's unpublished manuscript, I Live by the Scoreboard, son, Bo, traces the steps in his wonderful journey. TORCHY CLARK is remembered as one of the most successful high school football and basketball coaches in the state of Wisconsin. His prized pupil at Appleton Xavier in both sports was legendary Rocky Bleier who won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Today, Torchy's Xavier legacy lives on as the on-campus gym bears his name, the Gene Torchy Clark Gym. In 1969, the Oshkosh, Wisconsin native and former Marquette University basketball player (1947-51), moved his family to Orlando, Florida to start the program at UCF. Torchy's magnificent run of success continued winning five Sunshine State Conference Championships (in eight years) and coaching the Knights to the 1978 NCAA Division II Final Four in Springfield, Missouri winning 24 consecutive games. He amassed a 274-89 record and is the school's all-time leader in wins. Torchy is an inaugural member of UCF's Athletic Hall of Fame (1998). The devoted husband to Claire and father of five was a man of deep, committed faith. His love for the Lord resonates throughout the chapters. Torchy's humble, down-to-earth, yet intense, demanding work ethic and teaching style created a culture of excellence in every program he led. With detailed research through meaningful and poignant interviews, the iconic figure comes to life. Torchy, who won 82 percent of his games in his career shares his secret to coaching mastery and explains his philosophy of the word obligation in a team setting. A champion of the underdog, Torchy Clark was truly a winner on the court, in the classroom, and in the community. Read about this one-of-a-kind, humble coach and the humorous, fascinating, and compelling stories of his enduring legacy. The Torch Will Never Go Out |
| alabama football playoff history: Riding with the Blue Moth Bill Hancock, 2006 After the death of his son, Will, in the 2001 airplane crash that took the lives of nine additional members of the Oklahoma State basketball team and support staff, Hancock's 2,747-mile journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic became more than just a distraction. It became a pilgrimage. Photos. |
| alabama football playoff history: When the Lions Roared Bill Contz, 2017-09-01 The 1982 Penn State national championship team was not only one of Joe Paterno’s best, it was one of the best teams college football has ever seen. In When the Lions Roared, Bill Contz, one of the squad's offensive tackles, details that special season and the experience of playing for a legendary coach. Featuring dozens of interviews with former players, this book provides anecdotes from the epic contests of that season while also proving statistically why this Nittany Lions team stands up against all of the talented teams that came before and after. Also featuring a foreword and reflections by Todd Blackledge, Penn State's 1982 starting quarterback, this is an essential read for Nittany Lions faithful. |
| alabama football playoff history: My Conference Can Beat Your Conference Paul Finebaum, Gene Wojciechowski, 2014-08-05 An all-access pass into the powerhouse teams and passionate fanbases of the legendary Southeastern Conference, from one of the most influential men in college football: ESPN’s Paul Finebaum. Proud owner of 14 prestigious college football programs, producing seven consecutive national championships, twelve NFL first round draft choices, and a budget that crushes the GDP of Samoa, the Southeastern Conference collects the most coveted ratings, rankings, and revenue of any conference in college football. With its pantheon of illustrious alumni like Bear Bryant, Herschel Walker, Peyton Manning, and Nick Saban, the SEC is the altar at which millions of Americans worship every Saturday, from Texas to Kentucky to Florida. If the SEC is a religion, its deity is radio talk-show host Paul Finebaum. In My Conference Can Beat Your Conference, Finebaum, chronicles the rise of the SEC and his own unlikely path to college football fame. Finebaum offers his blunt wisdom on everything from Joe Paterno and the Penn State scandal to the relevancy of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron’s girlfriend, and chronicles the best of his beloved callers, and the worst of his haters. |
| alabama football playoff history: The Crimson Tide Robert W. Chambers, 2024-10-11 Immerse yourself in the haunting beauty of The Crimson Tide by Robert W. Chambers. This evocative novel transports readers to a world where love, passion, and the supernatural intertwine in an unforgettable narrative that lingers long after the last page is turned. As Chambers unveils his mesmerizing tale, you may find yourself asking: What depths of emotion can the human heart withstand before it breaks? But here’s a thought to ponder: Is it possible for love to transcend the boundaries of life and death, echoing through time like the tides of the sea? Explore the intricate relationships and vivid landscapes that Chambers masterfully creates, blending the ethereal with the palpable. Each character grapples with their desires and fears, inviting you to reflect on the complexities of human emotion. Are you prepared to navigate the stormy waters of love and longing that flow through this captivating story? Experience the lyrical prose and rich imagery through short, poignant paragraphs that evoke a deep sense of connection. This novel is not just a story; it's an exploration of the heart's deepest yearnings. This is your chance to dive into a world of passion and mystery. Will you let The Crimson Tide sweep you away into its mesmerizing depths? Don’t miss the opportunity to own this literary gem. Purchase The Crimson Tide now and embark on a journey through the tides of love and fate! |
| alabama football playoff history: 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die Christopher Walsh, 2016-09-15 Since the inception of the Alabama football program in 1892, Crimson Tide has claimed 14 National Championship titles, all of which are explored in this guide. The book zeros in on critical moments, such as when running back Mark Ingram became the first Alabama player to win the Heisman Trophy in 2009, despite the team being led to six championships from 1958 to 1982 by the celebrated coach Paul Bear Bryant, as well as key figures from the college's history. This updated version includes highlights from the 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015 championship seasons. |
| alabama football playoff history: ESPN Southeastern Conference Football Encyclopedia Michael MacCambridge, 2009 THE ESPN SEC FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA INCLUDES • expanded profiles and histories of all twelve Southeastern Conference football programs, as well as former SEC schools Georgia Tech and Tulane • original essays on what makes each SEC program unique written by such experts as Winston Groom (Alabama), Lou Holtz (South Carolina), and Buster Olney (Vanderbilt) • two-page record books for each school, with all-time and annual leaders • all-time teams, college and pro football hall of fame inductees, first-round draft choices, and retired numbers for every school • a complete bowl history for each team, including box scores • a history of the Southeastern Conference written by Chuck Culpepper, and the all-time SEC team as selected by Ivan Maisel, author of A War in Dixie |
| alabama football playoff history: Tiger Turnaround Nick Saban, 2002-04 |
| alabama football playoff history: Decade of Dominance Christopher Walsh, 2019-07-09 ***I know with some of the older guard at Alabama this is not particularly popular, said Davis, but this is the greatest era of Alabama football ever.***He's been obviously the most consistent coach that we've had in our profession in a lot of years,'' said Grant Teaff, College Football Hall of Fame coach and former executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. Year after year, after year, after year, he's there.''***Steve Spurrier went so far as to call Saban the greatest recruiter in the history of college football, during SEC media days in 2014. As long as they can recruit like that, they're always going to be the favorites. |
| alabama football playoff history: Top of the Hill Manie Robinson, Tajh Boyd, 2018-10-23 When Dabo Swinney officially took over Clemson football for the 2009 season, it was considered a good program that couldn't quite recapture the greatness of the Danny Ford era. Dabo had spent his entire life as an underdog, but his defiant grit pushed him past personal hardships and professional adversity. His simple formula—faith, family, forgiveness, fortitude, and fun—pushed the Clemson football program past its potential and to the next level, taking the Tigers to 10 bowl games and four ACC championships, earning three College Football Playoff appearances, and most importantly, capturing the 2016 national championship. In Top of the Hill: Dabo Swinney and Clemson's Rise to College Football Greatness, Greenville News sports columnist and Clemson insider Manie Robinson traces Dabo's coaching ascension along Clemson football's return to glory, going behind the scenes of one of the powerhouse programs in the country. |
| alabama football playoff history: Study Hall Bill Connelly, 2013 Study Hall is an accessible, enjoyable look at the world of college football through the eyes of coaches, writers, and numbers geeks. The first of its kind, this book explores college football's current events, numbers, and tactics from a number of perspectives. It is an attempt to bridge the gap between the analytical side of the game and its real-life application. So many of us love this ridiculous sport; Study Hall gives us ways to love it even more. Table of Contents 1. It's Personal 2. An Ungovernable Mess 3. The Case for Computers 4. You, Me, and Stats 5. We Meet Again, Mr. Wizard 6. Coaches vs. Stats 7. The New Box Score 8. Advanced Stats 101 9. College Football's Curveball 10. QBs and the Passes They Throw 11. Sometimes Clichés Are Clichés for a Reason 12. The 'Spread Offense' Meme Dies 13. Beating, And Becoming, Goliath |
| alabama football playoff history: Husky Football in the Don James Era Derek Johnson, 2007-04-01 |
| alabama football playoff history: LSU Football Vault Herb Vincent, 2008-06 This history of LSU football includes pockets at various pages with replicas of memorabilia such as tickets, postcards, fliers. There are also photographs with corner holders as in a scrapbook. |
| alabama football playoff history: The Opening Kickoff Dave Revsine, 2014-07-29 It’s America’s most popular sport, played by thousands, watched by millions, and generating billions in revenues every year. It’s also America’s most controversial sport, haunted by the specter of life-threatening injuries and plagued by scandal, even among its most venerable personalities and institutions. At the college level, we often tie football’s tales of corruption and greed to its current popularity and revenue potential, and we have vague notions of a halcyon time--before the new College Football Playoff, power conferences, and huge TV contracts. Perhaps we conjure images of young Ivy Leaguers playing a gentleman’s game, exemplifying the collegial in collegiate. What we don’t imagine is a game described in 1905, not today, as a social obsession--this boy-killing, man-mutillating, education-prostituting, gladiatorial sport. In The Opening Kickoff, Dave Revsine tells the riveting story of the formative period of American football (1890-1915). It was a time that saw the game’s meteoric rise, fueled by overflow crowds, breathless newspaper coverage and newfound superstars—including one of the most thrilling and mysterious the sport has ever seen. But it was also a period racked by controversy in academics, recruiting, and physical brutality that, in combination, threatened football’s very existence. A vivid storyteller, Revsine brings it all to life in a captivating narrative. |
| alabama football playoff history: Turnaround Tom Stoddard, 2000 By 1958 the once legendary Bama football program had reached an all-time low -- only four wins in three years. The proud tradition that included national titles and Rose Bowl victories was a source of state pride that had to be saved. The University found its savior in Paul Bryant and it gave him free rein to work his miracles.Turnaround tells how Bryant took a group of young athletes who were accustomed to defeat and transformed some of them into winners, at the same time labeling others as losers or quitters, a stigma that some never overcame. Comprehensive interviews with players and coaches, detailed accounts of practice sessions, play-by-play recountings of the games, and numerous photographs take the reader back in time to that critical year in Alabama football history. |
| alabama football playoff history: Tales from 1978-79 Alabama Football Steve Townsend, 2003-01 This collection of stories focuses on what separated the Crimson Tide from the rest of the college football world during Coach Bear Bryant's two national championship seasons. |
| alabama football playoff history: The College Football Championship Matt Doeden, 2017-01-01 Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! In 2015, when Ohio State took on the University of Oregon in the first College Football Playoff championship game, millions of sports fans tuned in. But back in 1869, when Rutgers University and Princeton University played the first-ever college football game, no one predicted the national spectacle that a college football championship game would become. Author Matt Doeden takes readers on a journey from the disorganized games of the early years to the most recent playoffs to determine the best college team in the nation. Along the way, discover some of the most incredible moments, games, blunders, and statistics in the history of college football championships. |
| alabama football playoff history: The Road to Bama Andrew Bone, Jay Barker, 2020-09-29 The University of Alabama boasts one of the nation's most storied football programs, and the recruiting acumen of coaches like Bear Bryant and Nick Saban plays a major role in that. The Road to Bama is a wild ride into the competitive world of college football recruiting, revealing how many Crimson Tide players found their way to Tuscaloosa. |
| alabama football playoff history: Sixteen and Counting Kenneth Gaddy, 2017-08-08 Dramatic accounts of every University of Alabama National Championship football season recounted by noted sports writers, players, and Alabamians. Dating back to 1925, when Wallace Wade coached the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season and earned a spot in the Rose Bowl, the driving goal of every University of Alabama football season has been a national championship. A winning team surfaced that very next year, when Hoyt “Wu” Winslett’s squad sealed the national championship at the Rose Bowl for a second time. Winning seasons and bowl games culminating in the coveted crown followed again in 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015—more championships than any other college team in the nation. Sixteen and Counting features a chapter highlighting each of these championship seasons and collects the legendary stories of many of the outstanding coaches and players on the University of Alabama’s championship teams. College football legends such as Wallace Wade, Wu Winslett, Johnny Mack Brown, Pooley Herbert, Frank Thomas, Dixie Howell, Don Hutson, Jimmy Nelson, Holt Rast, Pat Trammel, Sam Bailey, Lee Roy Jordan, Harry Gilmer, Bill Lee, Ken Stabler, Joe Namath, Gary Rutledge, Randy Billingsley, Barry Krauss, Clem Gryska, Gene Stallings, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and, of course, Nick Saban all make prominent appearances. A seventeenth chapter is included that looks at the uncrowned teams commonly referred to as “the other five,” who were considered national champions by at least one national ranking service at the end of the season. Every glorious milestone and high point in Alabama football history is included here: “Mama called,” the wishbone formation, “The Goal Line Stand,” the Million Dollar Band, the coaching tower, the Davis kicking dynasty, the Notre Dame box, Coach of the Year, Team of the Decade, and two Heisman trophy winners. |
Mobile, Alabama - City-Data.com
Mobile-area historical tornado activity is below Alabama state average. It is 30% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/18/1950, a category F3 …
Crime rate in Montgomery, Alabama (AL): murders, rapes…
According to our research of Alabama and other state lists, there were 496 registered sex offenders living in Montgomery, Alabama as of June 10, …
Theodore, Alabama (AL 36590) profile: population, maps, rea…
Theodore-area historical tornado activity is below Alabama state average. It is 23% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/18/1950, a category F3 …
Phenix City, Alabama (AL) profile: population, maps, rea…
Phenix City-area historical tornado activity is slightly below Alabama state average. It is 38% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 3/31/1961 , …
Crime rate in Birmingham, Alabama (AL): murders, rapes…
According to our research of Alabama and other state lists, there were 719 registered sex offenders living in Birmingham, Alabama as of June 10, …
Mobile, Alabama - City-Data.com
Mobile-area historical tornado activity is below Alabama state average. It is 30% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/18/1950, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado …
Crime rate in Montgomery, Alabama (AL): murders, rapes, …
According to our research of Alabama and other state lists, there were 496 registered sex offenders living in Montgomery, Alabama as of June 10, 2025. The ratio of all residents to sex …
Theodore, Alabama (AL 36590) profile: population, maps, real …
Theodore-area historical tornado activity is below Alabama state average. It is 23% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/18/1950, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) …
Phenix City, Alabama (AL) profile: population, maps, real estate ...
Phenix City-area historical tornado activity is slightly below Alabama state average. It is 38% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 3/31/1961 , a category F3 ( max. wind speeds 158 …
Crime rate in Birmingham, Alabama (AL): murders, rapes, robberies ...
According to our research of Alabama and other state lists, there were 719 registered sex offenders living in Birmingham, Alabama as of June 10, 2025. The ratio of all residents to sex …
Madison, Alabama (AL 35758) profile: population, maps, real estate ...
Madison-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Alabama state average. It is 147% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/3/1974 , a category F5 ( max. wind speeds 261 …
Sylacauga, Alabama (AL 35149) profile: population, maps, real …
Sylacauga-area historical tornado activity is near Alabama state average. It is 105% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 1/24/1964, a category F4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) …
Leeds, Alabama (AL 35004) profile: population, maps, real estate ...
Leeds-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Alabama state average. It is 150% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/4/1977 , a category F5 ( max. wind speeds 261-318 mph) …
Alabama Bigger Cities (over 6000 residents) - Real Estate, Housing ...
Map of Radon Zones in Alabama based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data More Alabama directories: Cities, towns, and villages in Alabama between 1000 and 6000 residents …
Huntsville, Alabama (AL) profile: population, maps, real estate ...
Huntsville-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Alabama state average. It is 146% greater than the overall U.S. average. On 4/3/1974 , a category F5 ( max. wind speeds 261 …
