Nick Saban has built Alabama into a national powerhouse program and a mainstay in the College Football Playoff.
Under Saban, the Crimson Tide have won three national championships in the current CFP format. This season, however, Alabama (11–2) dropped two games during the regular season, one to Tennessee and the other to SEC West rival LSU in Baton Rouge.
When Utah defeated USC in the Pac-12 championship game earlier this month, there were some pundits who felt that the Crimson Tide could find their way in the top four, despite having two losses. No two-loss team has ever made the CFP, and likewise, Alabama did not earn one of the coveted four spots to compete for a national championship.
But after Bryce Young put together an incredible five-touchdown performance to defeat Kansas State, 45–20, in the Sugar Bowl, Saban went on the record to say that his team should have been in heavier consideration as one of the top four teams in college football.
“I think the way the team performed out there together as a group was something to prove,” Saban said. “I think we had a little bit of a taste in our mouth if we had a dominant performance, it would show people that we did probably deserve to do a little better than we did in terms of the playoff picture.
“But at the same time, I’m proud that we came to the Sugar Bowl. I’m proud that we won the Sugar Bowl but I am most proud that there was a team out there that cared, that represents Alabama in a first-class way and the way they competed and the way they played in the game.”
Alabama missed the CFP for only the second time since the format was created. The first instance that did not include the Crimson Tide was in 2019.
