In August, college football fans identified Alabama as a favorite to make the College Football Playoff and potentially win the national title.
The Crimson Tide, after all, returned 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year Will Anderson and landed five-star transfer running back Jahmyr Gibbs from Georgia Tech.
However, as the aforementioned trio prepares for the NFL Draft following Alabama’s 45-20 Sugar Bowl victory over Kansas State, the one word most often used to describe the Tide’s season is disappointing.
On Wednesday, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt became the latest big name to stamp the disappointment tag on Nick Saban’s team.
“This is a very disappointing season for Alabama and Alabama fans,” Klatt said. “I do not think there is any way around that.”
Disappointing? An 11-2 season?
Alabama’s final record, which inluded a one-point loss to LSU and a three-point loss to Tennessee, shows the greatness of Saban’s program.
As some other college football powers from the last century—Nebraska, Miami, Florida State—pine for a playoff appearance or even a bowl bid, Alabama deals in national titles. Alabama has not gone more than three seasons without a title under Saban, who has six overall at with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama consistently shows it’s in a different stratosphere of expectations than the rest of college football.
As some media brand Alabama as “losers” of the season or a disappointment, consider the implications of a Sugar Bowl victory for Alabama’s opponent, Kansas State.
A win would have been the Wildcats’ third NY6 bowl victory and first since 2001. During his preview of the game, Klatt said a K-State victory would be monumental for the program.
“A win in this game makes this one of the three best seasons in (Kansas State’s) history,” he said.
The disparate impact of the Sugar Bowl’s outcome for the participants is a testament to Saban and his program.
With the No. 1 class in the 2023 recruiting cycle, it appears Alabama will maintain its lofty standards for quite some time.
