Alabama Crimson Tide again on quest to be best in college football

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Nick Saban knows Alabama cannot win every game.

The Crimson Tide merely comes close.

This is the fifth year of the College Football Playoff, and the fifth Alabama appearance in the four-team tournament to decide the national champion. The latest quest toward another title, which would be the school's third in the past four years, resumes Saturday when the top-ranked Crimson Tide (13-0) takes on fourth-ranked Oklahoma (12-1) in the semifinals at the Orange Bowl.

"It's a good problem to have," said Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, the Heisman Trophy winner. "They win a lot. We win a lot. ... I've heard a lot of people say, 'Beat Alabama' just because they don't like Alabama or whatever. But I'm not really too much into that."

The game is a matchup between the two highest-scoring offenses in the country, with Oklahoma slightly outpacing Alabama there. It's also a matchup of arguably the two best players in the country; Murray and Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa were first and second, respectively, in the Heisman voting.

At stake is a berth in the CFP title game Jan. 7 against either Clemson or Notre Dame. And Alabama has four players who will be appearing in their seventh CFP game — which is absurd, especially when considering that there have been only 12 games total in the event since it was put into place starting with the 2014 season.

"We know we can't be perfect," Saban said. "But we're certainly trying to work every day to close the gap on how good can we be, and are we reaching our full potential in how we improve and work every day."

"We've prepared well," said Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, the 35-year-old offensive mastermind who will be coaching in his 15th bowl game already. "Confident in the way our team has approached this entire month. We've had a great week here so far. Can't wait for Saturday night."

Alabama and Clemson, which plays Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, both enter the CFP with a chance to go 15-0 — should either claim the national championship. And that would be truly rare air. The NCAA defines the "modern era" as starting in 1937, and no team has won more than 14 games in a season during that span. The last team to go 15-0 at the top level of college football was Penn, back in 1897.

For a couple of storied programs, Alabama and Oklahoma haven't faced off very often. The Sooners lead the all-time series 3-1-1, and three of those matchups have been in bowl games — starting with the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1963, a 17-0 Alabama victory. Their most recent matchup was on Jan. 2, 2014 in the Sugar Bowl, when the Sooners prevailed 45-31. Alabama is 66-5 since.