| Date | TFG | RBA | Away Team | TFG | RBA | Home Team | Plays | Odds TFG / RBA |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009/09/05 | 19 | / 25 | Virginia Tech | 24 | vs | 9 | / 7 | Alabama | 34 | 165 | 68.9% | / 78.7% |
| 2009/09/12 | 109 | / 105 | FIU | 14 | at | 8 | / 7 | Alabama | 40 | 160 | 98.0% | / 96.4% |
| 2009/09/19 | 115 | / 115 | North Texas | 7 | at | 9 | / 8 | Alabama | 53 | 146 | 98.6% | / 97.0% |
| 2009/09/26 | 53 | / 56 | Arkansas | 7 | at | 9 | / 7 | Alabama | 35 | 165 | 89.2% | / 83.1% |
| 2009/10/03 | 7 | / 7 | Alabama | 38 | at | 49 | / 42 | Kentucky | 20 | 164 | 80.8% | / 79.9% |
| 2009/10/10 | 7 | / 5 | Alabama | 22 | at | 14 | / 21 | Mississippi | 3 | 159 | 58.9% | / 64.5% |
| 2009/10/17 | 35 | / 28 | South Carolina | 6 | at | 6 | / 3 | Alabama | 20 | 158 | 89.3% | / 75.0% |
| 2009/10/24 | 21 | / 20 | Tennessee | 10 | at | 4 | / 6 | Alabama | 12 | 155 | 86.0% | / 78.9% |
| 2009/11/07 | 12 | / 17 | LSU | 15 | at | 5 | / 4 | Alabama | 24 | 155 | 70.9% | / 75.1% |
| 2009/11/14 | 5 | / 4 | Alabama | 31 | at | 51 | / 53 | Mississippi St. | 3 | 136 | 86.5% | / 91.4% |
| 2009/11/27 | 4 | / 4 | Alabama | 26 | at | 36 | / 28 | Auburn | 21 | 156 | 85.1% | / 81.0% |
| 2009/12/05 | 1 | / 4 | Florida | 13 | vs | 4 | / 1 | Alabama | 32 | 139 | 33.7% | / 36.4% |
| 2010/01/07 | 4 | / 3 | Texas | 21 | vs | 3 | / 1 | Alabama | 37 | 167 | 52.6% | / 52.8% |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | WinPct | SoS | Off. | Def. | Pace | ||||||
| 2009 | 0.914 | 3 | 0.619 | 13 | 27.3 | 4 | 10.6 | 3 | 157.7 | 114 | |
Justin
This is the second consecutive appearance in our countdown by Nick Saban. It's also the second appearance of a team that played during the life of this blog, and the second that we had to explain away as being not the best team in college football that year. The Tebow Gators with their 32.7 PPH offense and 11.5 PPH defense finished the year 0.018 ahead of the Crimson Tide in our rankings despite having lost to them in the title game. (Once again, we refer you to Ken Massey's comment about the best team not always winning.) Don't get me wrong; Alabama had a bruisingly efficient offense that ranked 4th in the nation once adjusted for strength of schedule and pace -- something that not all critics take into account -- and a solid defense. That's not to say that this team didn't have their close calls. They needed a blocked FG just to get past Tennessee, as well as fourth quarter comebacks against Virginia Tech, LSU, and Auburn. This team was excellent, but not truly dominating to the same degree as the remaining teams in our countdown.
| Alabama Crimson Tide | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | WinPct | SoS | Off. | Def. | Pace | ||||||
| 2009 | 1.000 | 1 | 0.548 | 18 | 21.8 | 11 | 7.4 | 3 | 158.2 | 119 | |
Eddie
2009 Alabama marks the first true RBA #1 in our countdown. Their offense wasn't flashy but managed to put points on the board at a 29.9 +/- 16.5 PPH efficiency. Like virtually every other team on this list, Alabama dominated thanks to its defense. "Mount" Terrance Cody, Rolando McClain, Dont'a Hightower, and Javier Arenas crushed opposing offenses, resulting in a 4.0 +/- 6.7 PPH efficiency. As good as this team was, they were barely the best team of 2009. RBA thinks that the (1a) Crimson Tide stomped all over (1b) Texas in the BCS national championship primarily because Colt McCoy was injured on the first drive of the game because both teams were very evenly matched otherwise.
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