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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Nov 7, 2015; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban walks off the field after the game against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama won 30-16. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2015; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban walks off the field after the game against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama won 30-16. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

2012

The 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide went 13-1 (7-1) en route to their 15th national title in school history by crushing the No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2013 BCS National Championship. Alabama’s lone loss was to 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel’s Texas A&M Aggies in Tuscaloosa, Texas A&M’s first season in the SEC.

Alabama won a game that came down to the final play in the 2012 SEC Championship when No. 2 Alabama knocked off the SEC East Champions in the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs. Many viewed the winner of that game as a sure-fire winner overly the then undefeated Fighting Irish.

The defense was spectacular that season. Junior quarterback AJ McCarron came into his own as a passer. The running back tandem of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon was borderline unstoppable. True freshman wide receiver Amari Cooper became the best receiver to play in the SEC since former Tide great Julio Jones and former Dawg A.J. Green. Both star wideouts went in the top-six of the 2011 NFL Draft. Amari Cooper went No. 4 overall to the Oakland Raiders in 2015.

Not to discredit any of Nick Saban’s three national titles to date, but his third was the least impressive of the three. It mostly has to do with Notre Dame being highly overrated at No. 1, losing to a two-loss Texas A&M team at home, and barely surviving Georgia in the SEC Championship.

In 2009, Alabama went undefeated and in 2011, the team convinced the AP Poll with their stellar play that they belonged in the National Championship, despite losing to LSU in the regular season and not winning the SEC that year. 2012 was a great National Championship for the Crimson Tide, but the 2009 and 2011 champions under Saban will stand the test of the a bit more than the 2012 will, especially if Alabama wins the 2015 College Football Playoff.

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