Where does Alabama's dynasty rank all time? | TNJN: Tennessee Journalist

Miami. Oklahoma. Nebraska. Notre Dame. Southern California.

What do these schools have in common? Eras of dominance on the gridiron. Dynasties that will forever go down in college football allure.

But when talking about dynasties, the Alabama Crimson Tide under Nick Saban’s reign have to be included on that list.

When Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007, Alabama football was in a state of disarray. No longer were the great teams led by the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant present. No longer were they the team that had once dominated entire decades. Instead, they were a team in search of an identity.

Saban quickly turned things around, winning a bowl game in his first season while recruiting some of the nation’s premier athletes that included Mark Ingram, Julio Jones and Rolando McClain. These players, among others, became the foundation of not only one of college football’s most impressive dynasties, but one of the most impressive dynasties in all of sports.

The Crimson Tide made it to the SEC Championship in 2008, only to lose to the eventual-champion Florida Gators. However, the wheels of a dynasty were set in motion.

In 2009, Alabama rolled through the season undefeated and defeated Texas in the BCS National Championship. The next season, they managed to win 10 games, including a 49-7 destruction of Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Eager to bounce back after a sub-par season, the Crimson Tide won each of the next two National Championships. First, they avenged their 9-6 loss of LSU with a 21-0 shutout victory over the Tigers. Then, they destroyed the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 42-14, in 2012.

Fresh off back-to-back titles, Alabama entered 2013 as the clear-cut favorites to three-peat. They were the top-ranked team after starting 11-0, but fell victim to Auburn’s miracle season in the infamous “Kick Six” edition of the Iron Bowl. The Crimson Tide eventually lost to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. The next season, Alabama again made it to the Sugar Bowl, but this time it acted as the first game of the first-ever College Football Playoff. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, they were gashed by Ezekiel Elliot and the Ohio State Buckeyes, 42-35.

After back-to-back seasons ended with disappointment, Saban resurrected the program and led Alabama to its fourth championship in seven seasons last year.

But where does this current dynasty rank among the all-time best?

A strong case can be made for the Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson Miami Hurricane teams of the 1980s and 1990s. Miami won four championships in a span of nine seasons. Then there’s the USC Trojans of the 1960s and 1970s, where they also won four championships and featured NFL legends such as OJ Simpson, Lynn Swann and Ronnie Lott. And most recently, the Florida Gators led by Urban Meyer won two championships in three seasons and had three seasons where they finished 13-1.

Simply put, the Alabama Crimson Tide of the past decade will go down as one of the greatest dynasties in college football history. Four championships, four SEC titles, two Heisman Trophy winners and a coach that doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon. Already with an unblemished 7-0 record midway through the 2016 college football season, Saban has his team where everyone expects them to be: In control of the SEC…and in contention for the National Championship.

Edited by David Bradford

Featured image by Matt Velazquez