The University of Alabama is on the up and up in revenue-generating sports other than football in recent years, and the results from last season’s SEC regular-season championship and tournament championship win only confirm that narrative.
The Crimson Tide’s football team, led by the greatest college football coach of all time in Nick Saban, is rich in tradition both past and present. However, the run that Saban has his football team on presently, either contending for or outright winning the national crown, is unprecedented.
Alabama football has played in six of the last seven College Football Playoff Championships dating back to 2015, the second year of the event’s existence. Of those, the Tide has won three national championships and lost three. Overall, the Crimson Tide boasts a record of 10-4 in the playoff.
Saban needs just one more national championship and he will break Paul W. “Bear” Bryant’s long-standing record for the most national championships at one school (six).
While Saban boasts 274 all-time wins as a head coach, he has a ways to go before he reaches the likes of longtime Penn State head coach Joe Paterno (409) and Bobby Bowden (377). It can be said that Saban is definitely in reach of “Bear” Bryant’s 323 wins, but he would need a few more years to match it or usurp it.
For Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats, who in just his second season at the Capstone won the boat in both the regular season and in the SEC Tournament, the shadow of Saban at the athletics facility is towering. But, Oats is a man that loves a challenge and he has stepped up to take on the challenge mightily.
Yet again this season, the Crimson Tide hoops squad is contending for at least the tournament championship and is in a position to be the fifth seed in the event if they can earn a win against the LSU Tigers today.
Oats is 63-33 in three years at the Capstone and has the Tide en route to their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
With all of this in mind, 247Sports released a ranking of the top coaching duos present in college football and basketball. Saban and Oats were ranked No. 1 among them, according to the list.
It’s no surprise for those of us who invest tons of emotion and energy into these programs, it’s just nice to see the accolades in writing.
Oats will lead his Crimson Tide in its last game of the season against LSU at 11:00 a.m. CST. The game can be viewed on your local CBS station.
Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for continued coverage of the Crimson Tide.
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