Alabama Earns Curious Hate Ranking From Josh Pate

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Alabama is one of the more polarizing teams in college football.

Alabama is one of the most decorated programs in college sports, claiming 18 national championships. The Crimson Tide have another five national titles that are not claimed.

The success of Alabama has caused a lot of fan bases and programs to have envy for the SEC program. Many fans like to root against former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban because he won six national championships with the school.

During an episode of "The Josh Pate College Football Show" released on Sunday, the host argued that the Crimson Tide are the second-most hated program in the country behind Notre Dame.

"Alabama right now still holding steady right there at number two. As the most hated college football team in the country," Pate said. “And the way I could measure this is I just know there's no team in the country that brings more jubilance in our comment section than when Alabama loses a game. 

"Without fail, the Sunday night show after Alabama loses a game is always our highest traffic show. And so I think that a part of that is just the residue from the Nick Saban era."

To put it bluntly, most of the country was laughing at Alabama's expense when it was blown out by Indiana in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl in January.

Even though Saban is no longer coaching, Pate said college football fans are still excited when the Crimson Tide lose.

It curious why Pate put Alabama at No. 2 when his own metrics show Notre Dame, a program often overranked, isn't No. 1.

“So it's still a big deal for Bama to lose," Pate said. "It's still a big deal that, you know, if your team played at noon today and Bama's kicking off at 7:30 tonight, you kind of got to make sure you've arranged your plans where you can watch Bama. 

"Because man, we got to check it out. We got to make sure we're there. We're tuned in if they lose."

Alabama has a big year coming up for head coach Kalen DeBoer. He led the program to an appearance in the SEC championship and CFP quarterfinal, but was blown out in both games.

DeBoer won't last long if Alabama is a punchline after big games.

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