The 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 114th overall season, 75th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and its 17th within the SEC Western Division. The team was led by head coach Nick Saban, in his second year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished with an undefeated 12–0 regular season, their first since 1994, and won their first SEC Western Division Championship since 1999. They finished the season with a record of 12–2 (8–0 in the SEC) after losses to Florida in the SEC Championship Game and to Utah in the Sugar Bowl.
In Week 10 of the season, Alabama became the No. 1 team in both the AP and Coaches' Polls as well as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. It was the first time the Crimson Tide has been ranked No. 1 in the regular season since November 1, 1980, when the top-ranked Tide fell to Mississippi State. It was also the first time Nick Saban had ever achieved the No. 1 position in the AP Poll and the first time in school history Alabama had reached No. 1 in the BCS standings. With their 27–21 overtime win over LSU, Alabama clinched a berth in the SEC Championship Game. The Crimson Tide finished their regular season undefeated with a 36–0 shutout victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl. However, the Tide went on to lose to Florida 31–20 in the SEC Championship Game. A month later, the Tide finished the season with a 31–17 loss in the Sugar Bowl against Utah.
Read more about 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Team: Before The Season, Schedule, Depth Chart, Coaching Staff, Rankings, Statistics, After The Season
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—Frank Zappa (1940–1993)
“Oh! Susanna, do not cry for me;
I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee.”
—Stephen Collins Foster (1826–1864)
“As the saffron tints and crimson flushes of morn herald the coming day, so the social and political advancement which woman has already gained bears the promise of the rising of the full-orbed sun of emancipation. The result will be not to make home less happy, but society more holy.”
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Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop, not on a dime, but on Miss Liberty’s torch. In football you run over somebody’s face.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
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That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
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—A.E. (Alfred Edward)