CBS Sports’ ranking of ‘best college football games’ is mostly just Alabama losses

Admin April 16, 2025

How good was Alabama under Nick Saban? By and large, any time the Crimson Tide lost under the college football legend from 2008-2023 made for big news across the sport, often with wide-ranging domino effects.

CBS Sports recently put together a list of the “best” regular season games of every college football season dating back to 2000. To put into perspective how dominant Saban teams were, Alabama losses appear five times on analyst Chris Hummer’s best-of list dating back to 2010.

From 2009-2020, Alabama won six national championships. No other college football program comes close to that total. The same goes for the impact of Alabama’s few losses in that span.

CBS named the Auburn Tigers’ 28-27 comeback (“Camback”) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the 2010 Iron Bowl as the best regular season game from that year. Cam Newton led Auburn back from a 24-0 deficit on Black Friday in Tuscaloosa to preserve the Tigers’ perfect season. I still think Alabama wins that game if Mark Ingram doesn’t fumble late in the first half with the Crimson Tide up 21-0 and driving. Ingram had fumbled only once before in his three seasons at tailback.

Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel-fueled takedown of No. 1 Alabama was ranked by CBS as the best game from the 2012 regular season. Manziel staked the Aggies to a 20-0 first-quarter lead, fueled in part by a Houdini-like escape out of heavy pressure to lob a touchdown pass to Ryan Swope in the back of the end-zone. A&M never trailed that November day in Tuscaloosa en route to a 29-24 win.

No one needs to overthink what game from the 2013 season ranks as CBS’ best. Auburn’s “Kick Six” will always be one of the best college football plays of all-time, unless you’re an Alabama fan. The Tigers’ 34-28 win over No. 1 ‘Bama as time expired barred the Crimson Tide from a three-peat — and even made the NBC Nightly News broadcast the following day, among other non-sports shows.

Admin April 16, 2025