re: ESPN names 2020 Alabama "The Best Team of the CFP Era"

I have zero problem calling this Bama team the most dominant champion in the CFP era, or even the BCS era. In a year where many teams slacked or simply couldn’t power through the COVID obstacles, Saban kept his already hungry team (bc of missing playoff last year) focused and performing at a level nobody else could sniff. I think teams performed at a lower level this year across the board bc they were missing players and couldn’t play/practice as much (which seems obvious), so in a simple “who would win” comparison I wouldn’t take 2020 Bama as the best, but I think they dominated the season more than any previous modern champions.

I estimate that their offense this year was (without Waddle) equal to LSU’s last year in terms of firepower, which is damn impressive. They were inarguably more efficient, but I think that’s largely because of COVID camp/practice restrictions disproportionately damaging defenses (offensive stats across CFB improved more this year than recent trend would’ve projected). 2019 LSU had a more experienced and talented defense than did 2020 Bama, so I’ll still consider them the “best” CFP champ for now.