Nick Saban has coached many elite teams during his tenure as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, including nine clubs that won 10 or more games, five teams that won the SEC championship and four national champions.
But a closer look at the 2016 Alabama Crimson Tide squad indicates this club has an excellent chance of being hands down the best team of the Saban Alabama era.
Longest win streak in team history
Let's start with the most important metric of all -- wins. Alabama is on a 25-game win streak, the third-longest such streak in Alabama and SEC history, behind the 28-game win streaks put together by Alabama from 1978-80 and 1991-93. It's also the longest win streak under Saban, six games longer than Saban's previous high of 19 (2009-10). The 2016 squad has 13 of the 25 wins.
Biggest comeback in team history
One of this season's wins occurred when Alabama overcame a 21-point deficit at Ole Miss in Week 3 on its way to a 48-43 win. This victory is tied with a 1989 triumph against Ole Miss as the largest comeback win in Alabama history and serves as evidence of this team's determination.
Biggest road blowout vs. top-10 SEC team in poll history
Alabama went into its Week 7 game at No. 9 Tennessee as a 14-point favorite, but that point spread turned out to be nowhere near enough as the Crimson Tide defeated the Volunteers 49-10. According to the Alabama sports information department, the 39-point margin of victory is the largest by any road team facing an AP top-10 SEC team in the history of the AP poll, beating the previous mark by 11 points. It is also the largest winning margin by Alabama on the road versus a top-10 team and its second-largest win margin against any top-10 team (behind the 49-7 win against Michigan State in the 2011 Capital One Bowl).
Best quarterback season in Alabama history
In the Week 2 game against Western Kentucky, Jalen Hurts became the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Crimson Tide in 32 years, and he set a team freshman and starting debut game record with 287 passing yards. In the Week 11 game against Mississippi State, Hurts became the first Alabama quarterback (and first Saban quarterback) to post 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game. Two weeks later, he set the Iron Bowl record for completion percentage (minimum 30 attempts) by racking up a 75 percent completion mark against Auburn despite being the first true freshman quarterback to start for Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
Hurts set the single-season team record for rushing yards for a quarterback (841). He is also only two touchdowns away from setting the single-season school mark for overall touchdowns and is only 405 yards away from claiming the single-season record in total offense.
Best ground game
Hurts isn't the only upper-tier ground gainer for Alabama, as running back Damien Harris is the Crimson Tide's leading rusher this season. Harris ranks second in the SEC in yards per rush (7.5), fifth in percentage of rushes that gained 5 or more yards (48.1) among backs with at least 100 carries, and fourth in rush yards per carry after first defensive contact (2.6). The 2016 Crimson Tide have averaged 245 rush yards per game, the highest total of any Saban Alabama team.
The most points -- and the most ways to get those points
Alabama averages 40.5 point per game, the highest total in the Saban Crimson Tide era, but this team's ability to score points in a wide variety of ways may be even more impressive than the prolific point total.
The 2016 Crimson Tide have scored 14 non-offensive touchdowns this season, four more than the second-highest total in the Saban era (10, in 2015). Ten of these touchdowns are of the defensive variety, which leads the nation in that category, while four are in the kick/punt return category, which is tied for the lead nationally.
Awe-inspiring defensive metrics
Scoring touchdowns is a hallmark of this year's Alabama defense, but this group can go toe-to-toe with Saban's previous legendary defenses in nearly any category.
The 2016 defense is allowing the fewest rush yards per game (63.4) and fewest rush yards per carry (2.0) in the Saban era. It doesn't take a step back in defending the pass, as this group has allowed the lowest Saban-era Total QBR (a ridiculously low 11.2), is tied for the highest sacks per game (3.5) and has eight sacks that led to fumbles, a mark that is more than double the previous best by a Saban Alabama defense (four, in 2011 and 2015).
Could be the toughest schedule in Saban's tenure
Every Alabama team plays a difficult schedule, and this year is no exception. The 2016 squad currently has the second-toughest schedule strength among Saban's Crimson Tide teams, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. The 2016 Tide are only slightly behind last year's Alabama championship team in this category and could close the gap or gain the lead depending on how the College Football Playoff plays out.
Bottom line
As long as they win their last two contests, the 2016 Crimson Tide could probably lay claim to the title of Saban's top Alabama squad no matter how well they play in those games. If Alabama wins two games with a performance level similar to the one it displayed against a brutal schedule this season, there will be no doubt that this is Saban's best Alabama team ever and possibly the best Crimson Tide club in the program's illustrious history.