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Alabama's Latest AP Top-25 Poll Ranking Snaps Historic College Football Record Streak After Iron Bowl Loss

By David Hayes

Alabama v Auburn
Alabama v Auburn / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
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Alabama head coach Nick Saban has helped make the Crimson Tide and college football dominance synonymous over the past decade.

However, his team's loss to heated in-state rival Auburn in Saturday's Iron Bowl has cost Alabama much more than a potential berth in the 2020 College Football Playoff.

After the Tigers upset the Tide, 48-45, in an Iron Bowl for the ages, Saban's 10-2 Alabama team has now fallen to No. 9 in the latest Week 15 AP Top-25 Poll. But what's the significance of this plunge? It marks the end of the Crimson Tide's NCAA-record streak of 68 straight appearances ranked in the AP Poll's top-5 spots.

It also marks the first time we've seen Bama outside of the top 5 since Nov. 8, 2015, as well as the Tide's first year with two regular-season losses since 2010. That's right, it's been 1,484 days since we last saw Bama's name outside of the top-5 spots in the AP Poll.

The Crimson Tide's impressive 68-week streak of top-5 appearances well surpassed the second-place mark of 55 set by Miami from Oct. 8, 2000 to Oct. 26, 2003.

Between losing to LSU for the first time in the last eight matchups and a season-ending injury to star QB Tua Tagovailoa in Week 12, it's been a tough second half of the season for Alabama.

While 2019 may prove to be the first college football season that we won't see Bama in the CFP, Saban and the Tide still have plenty of things to be proud of as they prepare for a likely bid to a New Year's Six bowl game.

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David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.