Nick Saban, Alabama winning game of 'Portal Kombat'

By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

The national championship Monday night features the two most talented teams in college football.

That’s not just me talking. That’s the 140 four- and five-star players who chose to sign with either Alabama or Georgia, and all that talent will be on display at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Georgia hasn't beaten Alabama since 2007, Nick Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa.

Puscifer put it best in its 2015 song "Grand Canyon": We are witnessing the majesty, standing on the edge of ever.

It's not just that Georgia hasn't beaten Alabama in nearly 15 years. It’s also that Alabama hasn't lost to an SEC East team since 2010.

That means that the coach of the last SEC East team to beat Saban (Steve Spurrier) was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame … five years ago. Saban has won 34 straight games against SEC East teams. He has lost 24 games total as head coach at Alabama and never more than three in a season since 2008.

When you think about the greatest conquerors of the known universe, remember that Nick Saban taught Thanos everything he knows. 

And he keeps collecting infinity stones. Whether recruiting out of high school, collecting talent through the transfer route or changing his offensive philosophy, the man keeps winning as the sport moves into the new era of "Portal Kombat."

At 70 years old, Saban remains the most adaptable predator this sport has ever known.

While Saban's signing 74 blue-chip recruits at Alabama is impressive, to me, the 66 at Georgia is an even more impressive feat. Alabama has built its roster on the strength of winning six national titles since 2009 and putting more players in the draft than any other program since Saban arrived.

Georgia, meanwhile, isn’t among the top-five schools in producing first-round draft picks in that span.

Still, Kirby Smart has managed to crank up the Bulldogs to a point where, on paper, they were more talented than Ohio State, LSU and Clemson this season — all teams that have won national titles in the CFP era. 

Georgia hasn’t won a national championship since 1980.

But not all four- and five-star players are created equal, and even Saban and Smart can miss on their blue-chip prospects. With the inception of the transfer portal, they’ve both been able to take advantage of the newfound freedom for players to leave a school, a program, a situation that just isn’t working for them.

Smart once had future NFL quarterbacks Jake Fromm, Justin Fields and Jacob Eason on his roster, in addition to Stetson Bennett. Georgia lost three of the four to transfer (Fields, Eason and Bennett) at one point, only to regain Bennett after a stint in JUCO. The Bulldogs also added former Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman and former USC quarterback JT Daniels to the mix, along with 2020 signee Carson Beck and 2021 signee Brock Vandagriff.

Defensively, after losing his entire secondary to the 2021 NFL Draft, Smart snatched former five-star and Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick out of the portal. Kendrick quickly became Georgia's best corner — he had two picks in the Orange Bowl — and is a likely first-round pick.

Meanwhile, Saban loves him some "Portal Kombat."

Alabama might start redshirt senior running back Brian Robinson Jr., but even he might not have been assured that spot this year. Many forget that Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford was a Bama back before he became a Bearcat.

And Saban isn’t averse to reaching into the portal for the prizes that ascend to the top. After leading Tennessee in tackles as a sophomore and starting 22 of 23 games in Knoxville, Henry To’o To’o entered the transfer portal and was immediately recruited to Tuscaloosa. As a junior, he is one two starting inside linebackers at Alabama and has led the Tide in tackles, with more than 100 headed into the national title game.

But the crown jewel of the 2021 transfer window has turned out to be Alabama wideout Jameson Williams, who is simply the best receiver on the No. 1 team in the sport.

However, Williams was just the third-best receiver at Ohio State before he entered the portal and often fought for snaps with Buckeye receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who just set an all-time bowl record for receiving yards (347) in the Rose Bowl.

There was little question that Saban and Tide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins would groom another crop of talented receivers after seeing 2020 Heisman winner DeVonta Smith and former Tide dynamo Jaylen Waddle both selected in the first round of last year’s draft.

What turned heads is that they not only went to get Williams but also immediately understood what they had in him. Williams’ speed sets him apart. He’s likely the fastest man on the Alabama roster, and that’s no small feat.

He has displayed that speed in the return game and every time Tide offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien dials up a go-route for him. For Saban, this is just another way for him to show how, no matter the rules, he will find a way to dominate.

When Ole Miss began running an offense built to go so fast that defenses did not have time to substitute or get lined up, Saban, a defensive coach by trade and defensive back at heart, asked if this is what we wanted the game to be. When we said yes, he said bet.

Alabama has averaged at least 41 points per game the past four seasons, had its previous two starting quarterbacks drafted in the first round, produced one of the best receiving quartets of all time, collected the past two Heisman trophies and lost just four games in the past five years.

With players such as Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler among the more than 1,500 FBS players to enter the portal, many claim that rosters have become too difficult to manage.

With players signing "name, image and likeness" deals worth seven figures, some decry player-led capitalism in a sport in which some coaches make $10 million annually.

But Saban? He continues to not only adapt to the rules as they are but also dominate his opponents.

No, the transfer portal and NIL are just fine. It’s college football fans and coaches who must adapt.

Adapt or die. Saban has.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.