The elite coaches in college football and National Football League have one thing in common.
Both levels have coaches that excel after a bye week. At the University of Alabama, Nick Saban has coached the football program to six national championships. Three of the six titles have come in the College Football Playoff era.
During the 2015, 2017, and 2020 seasons, the Crimson Tide has played in 17 games after a bye week.
With the postseason included, Alabama has lost one matchup after an off week in those three years. The loss came in 2017 versus Auburn by a score of 26-14 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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The Tide is 16-1 following a bye week in its three national title years of the CFP era.
After being off last week, Alabama turns its attention to the LSU Tigers. Ed Orgeron and his team will be at Bryant-Denny Stadium, trying to hand the Tide its second blemish. Both teams will square off Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT via ESPN.
In the CFP era, Saban has lost once to LSU (2019) and twice to Auburn (2017, 2019). He has to face Auburn on the road while battling LSU and Arkansas in Tuscaloosa. On Tuesday, Alabama will see where it stands in the first CFP rankings. Chaos is about to begin in college football. We are about to see who are the contenders versus the pretenders for a national championship.
Super Bowl champions dominate after bye weeks in the NFL. College teams are the same way for national titles.
We shall see if Coach Saban can continue Alabama’s success en route to a fourth championship in the CFP.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
