Dynasty Talk? Too soon...

By beating Notre Dame, Alabama can officially become a dynasty - college football

Published on ESPN Feed: ivan maisel | shared via feedly

Alabama is attempting to do what no program has done in the BCS era: win a third national championship and cross the threshold into a dynasty. It has been 15 years since a program last did so. Tom Osborne, dogged for two decades as the coach who couldn't win the big one, led Nebraska to its third big one in four seasons and retired as the Cornhuskers coach.

And now Nick Saban has brought the Crimson Tide to the precipice of matching Nebraska. No. 2 Alabama, with a defeat of No. 1 Notre Dame in the Discover BCS National Championship on Jan. 7, would become the first team to win a third national title since the BCS began in 1999.

That third crystal football is the key that will unlock the door to the pantheon of college football. We have identified eight dynasties that have ruled the sport in the modern era (beginning in 1936 with the Associated Press poll, the most widely accepted measure of a champion in the pre-BCS era). By happy accident, the dynasties spaced themselves apart, arriving at the rate of one per decade until the onset of the BCS.

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While all Alabama fans relish the possibility of watching the Tide make history, it's a little too soon to be talking about this dynasty stuff, isn't it?

Notre Dame is a traditional powerhouse. For the first time in decades, the team is undefeated and on the verge of winning another national championship. They are disciplined, well coached and have benefited greatly from the luck of the Irish.

Let's see Alabama get past a very capable opponent and then let's start comparing it to the dynastic reigns of college football history.