Paul Finebaum: 'The window on the Saban dynasty is closing'

Is doomsday approaching Alabama and Nick Saban? According to Paul Finebaum, it’s closer than ever.

“For starters, that window on the Saban dynasty is closing there. They are not going to get back in it this year,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter Sunday morning. “And it means a lot for Brian Kelly who came in because he wanted to take on Nick Saban. That’s the reason he said he left Notre Dame, and already he has scored a victory.

“In that game, there were numerous questionable calls on the Saban side. And then brilliant, life-changing calls on the LSU side, including the game-winner.”

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In the College Football Playoff era, Alabama has missed out on the playoffs twice – both due to the Tide having two losses in the regular season. The overtime loss to the Tigers leaves Alabama without a path into the CFP, and now the Tide is trying to pick up the scraps for a New Years Six bowl game. Alabama is 1-1 in non-CFP bowl games since 2014.

Nick Saban shares his postgame message to the team following loss to LSU

While the push for a college football playoff bid is no more for Alabama — no two-loss team has ever made the field and with the potential for a bevy of one-loss potential entrants, the chances are slim to none that the Crimson Tide makes the field of four. But head coach Nick Saban isn’t letting this be a lost season for Alabama. 

After Alabama lost to LSU, 32-31, in overtime, Saban had a fairly simple message for his locker room: There’s still plenty of reasons to want to keeping playing your best.

“I told them that we all have a chance, we have a legacy that we want to uphold in terms of the pride that we have in our performance as well as, you know, what our expectations are. And I told each player that they can develop value in their stock by continuing to try to play well and improve. And we can create value as a team if we continue to do the things that we need to do to get better as a team,” Saban said rather placidly, sitting at the podium postgame.

“So, there’s nobody that benefits from not getting better. There’s nobody that benefits from not playing well. Whether it’s their future that they’re concerned about or this team. And these guys care about this team.”