Fansided

Ranking Alabama’s National Championships in football

By John Buhler

Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide players celebrate after defeating the Michigan State Spartans in the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide players celebrate after defeating the Michigan State Spartans in the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 24, 2015; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban leads his players onto the field before the start of their game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban leads his players onto the field before the start of their game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

1992

1992 was a perfect 13-0 season for the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was the school’s first national title in 13 years and the only national championship the Tide won under then head coach Gene Stallings.

This season was tremendously memorable because it was the first season that the SEC hosted a Championship Game. The SEC had expanded to 12 teams that year with the inclusion of the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina, thus allowing two divisions of six teams to play for a Conference Championship at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Tide would go on to defeat the Florida Gators in the inaugural SEC Championship Game, 28-21. Alabama was then invited to play the No. 1 team in the country in the also undefeated Miami Hurricanes led by 1992 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Gino Torretta.

Alabama would go on to crush the Hurricanes in the 1993 Sugar Bowl by the score of 34-13 to finish the year at a perfect 13-0. The Tide were named the National Champions by both the AP and Coaches’ Polls, thus being a consensus at that time.

The U was as strong a program as there was in college football at the time. Beating the U stands as a thorn in Miami’s pride during those great teams of the 1980s and early 1990s. That National Championship for Alabama, its 12th in school history, perhaps changed the game again for the college football world.

It gave birth to the significance of the SEC Championship and really the importance of having a conference championship. Having to expand to at least 12 teams hurried conference realignment a decade later, ultimately influencing the current College Football Playoff. The 1992 team didn’t have the best player in college football. It was the best team.

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