Sunday, January 8, 2012

Counting Down the Champions, #4: 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide

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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