In 2007, Nick Saban didn't have much to smile about.
Nick Saban has the Alabama Crimson Tide headed to their second straight SEC Championship Game. Second straight. The Tide and Saban are getting respect now, but it wasn’t always this easy.
Consider that in 2007, Alabama wasn’t ranked in any major preseason poll and actually ended up losing to woeful Louisiana-Monroe. That loss led Saban to famously compare the disaster defeat to 9/11 and how the Tide, much like America, would have to rebound.
Yikes.
That year, ‘Bama ended their season with a PetroSun Independence Bowl victory over Colorado to finish 7-6 and not receive a single vote in any poll.
For a successful college football coach that was famously lured away from his failing experiment with the Miami Dolphins (remember, he’s “not going to be the Alabama coach.”) for a tradition-rich program and $4 million dollars a year, this was not what Alabama was hoping for. The Tide were rolling alright, but in the wrong direction.
Preseason 2008 saw ‘Bama in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, but at a humbling 24th place. The USA Today? Virtually ranked 26th.
That was, until the Crimson Tide showed up and smacked No. 9 Clemson 34-10 on a neutral field in the first game of the season.
“This will be a challenge for our team and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond,”Saban said after the game.
The Tide emphatically responded, ripping off 12 straight victories, including a 36-0 dismantling of hated rival Auburn. 2008 would witness a meteoric rise for ‘Bama, and by week 10 they were sitting in a once-familiar place: No. 1.
Then, in week 15, we saw how fickle a ranking can be as No. 3 Florida beat No. 1 Alabama 31-20 in the SEC Championship Game, shattering National Championship dreams. The Tide fell from 1st to 4th and were set to face No. 6 Utah in the BCS Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Surely this would be a slaughter and the Tide would roll. However, the Utes had other plans, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on their way to upsetting ‘Bama 31-17.
The two losses left a bitter taste to an otherwise outstanding season. That’s because in Tuscaloosa, AL., they don’t just win games, but championships. 12 National Championships, to be exact. At least, that is all ‘Bama officially claims.
Despite the loss, it seems Saban and Co. have converted some doubters, as the Tide grabbed a No. 5 ranking in the 2009 preseason. 10 straight wins later, Alabama has a No. 2 ranking and two stepping-stones in Chattanooga and Auburn before getting their chance to avenge last season’s loss to now No. 1 Florida on December 5th in the SEC Championship Game.
If the Crimson Tide can win out and defeat Florida, it will mark the first time that ‘Bama will play in the BCS National Championship Game in their illustrious history. Despite a bumpy start, Saban is well ahead of schedule in turning the tide.
Bill Graham covers college sports for Pete Prose and can be reached at Bill@peteprose.com
Graduated from Sam Houston State University with a BA in Mass Communications with an emphasis in print journalism. Have experience writing for two newspapers numerous online publications. Specialties are college basketball and football. 
Not a huge CFB guy, but even I’ll be watching that SEC title game. Hoping for Tim Tebow to fail is one of my favorite pasttimes.
Reid, it will be the highlight of the entire year, for sure. I just hope it can live up to the hype, like last year’s Texas-OU game or 2006’s Ohio State-Michigan clash. Can’t wait for that game as the high point of an otherwise mediocre college football season in terms of games.
It really just comes down to recruiting. It’s not the only element of course, but when you look at the amount of 4 and 5 stars that Bama has just sitting on their bench, it’s obvious why they are good at every phase of the game. If you want to see why the top teams and the top conferences (SEC) win big bowls consistently, look at the recent top 10 classes.
Recruits help immensely. Saban has always been known as an outstanding recruiter. His ties from his days at LSU are still strong, even though he burned alot of LSU fans by going to an in-conference program.
However, it isn’t just recruits. Les Miles has had unbelievable talent, but keeps getting beat by ‘Bama and Florida. Heck, look at the talent that LSU had the year after they won the National Championship in 04. Yet Les Miles only managed to get into the Sugar Bowl. Even the year they won it all, they lost twice.
Give Saban that 2005 team, which he basically built before he left, and he likely wins 2 straight BCS championships. Recruiting means alot, but it isn’t the only thing. Just look at Charlie Weiss.
I’ve always been impressed at how Saban is able to get his players to perform up to their potential in big games. I’ve cheered for way too many good teams that shit the bed in big games.
Saban gets alot out of his players. He had to reload QUITE a bit this year, and yet here he is. Undefeated and facing the number one team in the country. That says quite a bit about him as a coach. Yes, he gets big recruits, but its hard to keep going undefeated after replacing so much leadership and talent.
I have a feeling with Dunlap out, a fully healed Ingram (still holding out for that), and knowing that they don’t want to come all this way just to lose to Florida again, Bama might take this game. We will see though.