5 Statistics That Stand Out As 2025-26 College Football Season Wraps: Roll Call

The 2025-26 college football season came to an end Monday night with Indiana not only capping an impressive and memorable 16-0 run, held off a determined Miami that that squeaked into the College Football Playoff as the No. 10 seed, 27-21.

Alabama's season concluded a couple of weeks ago against the Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl, but the implications and fallout have just begin.

Here are five statistics that caught our eye after the National Championship. Some of these will be Crimson Tide-specific, others will be more about the Southeastern Conference:

1. Before Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the last Heisman Trophy winner to go on and win the national championship at the end of the season was Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020.

2. Since Nick Saban's last national title that same season, his former assistant coaches have won three of the five national championships. Meanwhile ...

3. Since Saban's first championship during the 2009 season, all but five titles were won by either Saban, one of his former assistant coaches, or someone who attended Alabama.

4. The SEC went a horrendous 4-10 in the bowls and College Football Playoff. Ole Miss had two of the playoff wins, and Alabama one. The only team to win a non-playoff bowl game was Texas. Meanwhile, the Big Ten went 11-5 and won its third straight national title. The last time the SEC didn't notch at least five bowl/CFP wins was 2005 when the smaller conference went 3-3.

5. None of national champions in college football this season were from the South.

FBS (Division I): Indiana
FCS (Division IAA): Montana State
Division II: Ferris State
Division III: Wisconsin River Falls
Junior College: Iowa Western

With that in mind, we offer:

Countdown to Alabama Football's 2026 Season Opener

228 days (Sept. 5 vs. East Carolina at Bryant-Denny Stadium)

Roll Call: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

• Sports Illustrated’s way-too-early Top 25 rankings for the 2026 college football season were published after the National Championship, with Alabama at No. 15, which is fifth among SEC teams. Wrote Bryan Fischer: "There are no excuses left for Kalen DeBoer as he’s assembled one of the most talented rosters in the SEC and is coming off CFP and SEC title game trips last season. Talented redshirt freshman Keelon Russell is expected to take over at quarterback, but the key question might be if the offense can more effectively run the ball after one of the worst seasons on the ground in school history." FOR MORE

• Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor on the challenges of a program like Alabama having to replace a coaching legend: “They have to go out and hire the next Nick Saban, so to speak. And there’s not a lot of Nick Sabans out there.”

• Over the weekend the Alabama cheer team secured its eighth national title in history, as the Crimson Tide won the UCA Division IA All Girl Championship thanks to a 93.5 score in the final round, to edge South Florida's 89.6. It was the fourth All Girl title and first since 2022. Last year Alabama won the UCA Division IA Co-Ed championship.

That magic moment! 🤩

Alabama Cheer wins the 2026 UCA All Girl National Championship! This is the 8th title in program history! #RollTide https://t.co/7B5yvDdBl3 pic.twitter.com/vJiQicpusw
— Alabama Athletics (@UA_Athletics) January 19, 2026

Monday's Alabama Crimson Tide Results

No Games Scheduled

Tuesday's Alabama Crimson Tide Schedule

No Games Scheduled

This Date in Alabama Crimson Tide History:

January 20, 1702: French colonists, led by Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, establish Fort Louis de la Mobile on a bluff twenty-seven miles up the Mobile River from Mobile Bay. The settlement, which became simply known as "Mobile," moved to its permanent site at the mouth of the Mobile River in 1711. It served as the capital of the colony of Louisiana from its founding to 1718.

January 20, 1969: A week after Super Bowl III was played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Sports Illustrated finally hit newsstands with Joe Namath on the cover and the headline "Say It's So, Joe." Not only was another former Alabama quarterback named the game MVP (Bart Starr in both Super Bowl I and II), but when he guaranteed the win and then pulled off the upset SI called him the "folk hero of the new generation."

January 20, 1974: Randy Hall, a junior defensive tackle, was named an Academic All-American. A pre-medicine student, Hall had a 3.88 average in the classroom. His teammate, safety David McMakin, was chosen to the second team Academic All-American squad.

Alabama Crimson Tide Quote of the Day

“Show class, have pride and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.”
Paul W. “Bear” Bryant

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We'll Leave You With This ...

"I coached the secondary the whole time I was a head coach..

I was always taking over that secondary and we always coached the coaches" ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/EwiYGCeuT9
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 19, 2026