In that context, there’s no take hot enough in the wake of Saturday’s 34-24 loss to Texas that Alabama hasn’t heard it before, and hasn’t immediately rendered it irrelevant. Bama’s style of play evolved, but nothing really changed. They’ve won 2 more since that one, opening 5 of the subsequent 7 seasons at No. Instead, from that point on they embarked on a 26-game winning streak with a national championship (and very nearly two) to show for it. Alabama plummeted out of the top 10, amid speculation that the window for the kind of dominance the Tide had come to take for granted was finally beginning to close - more or less on schedule, historically speaking. Three of those losses came in Tuscaloosa, including the September 2015 shootout against Ole Miss that, at the time, seemed to represent the most urgent red flag of Saban’s tenure. In the Nick Saban era, the Crimson Tide have rebounded from a regular-season upset to play for the national championship in 6 different seasons (2011, ’12, ’14, ’15, ’17, and ’21), ultimately wining the title in 4 of them. Those who come to bury the Bama dynasty inevitably wind up digging a hole for themselves. So far, the answer has always been a resounding no. Is this the Big One? The beginning of the end? The clock striking midnight a decade after it was due? For a team that has been favored to win nearly every time it has set foot on the field for the past 15 years, arguably it is.

Part of the bargain of Alabama’s unprecedented longevity at the top of the sport is that, on some level, every loss feels like a crisis. … and more! But first: Crimson Tide at crossroads Changes in latitude at Mississippi State.

Alabama world clock