Welcome to 99.1 WDGM’s edition of Throwback Thursday as we look back and count down the 10 most important games of the Nick Saban Era at the University of Alabama. The countdown began last week with the 2008 meeting between Alabama and Clemson at number 10 and continues this week with the January 1st 2011 Capital One Bowl meeting between Alabama and Michigan State.

The 2010 season was a bit of a disappointment after the Crimson Tide won the national championship in the year prior. It started with a loss in Columbia,South Carolina against the Gamecocks and continued with close losses to LSU and Auburn. The questions had arisen: had this team slipped? Would this team join the long list of teams in all sports that win a title, then fail to live up to the pressures of being the champion?

Alabama started off the new year on a different foot and reestablished theAlabama identity with a 49-7 thumping of the Spartans that put the nation on notice again;Alabama was a team to be reckoned with.  I look back at this game as the one that reestablished that identity for the Crimson Tide and spring boarded Alabama into its current success: back-to-back national championships

So watch the video below, remember the 9th most important game of the Nick Saban era and check back each Thursday at 10:30 as this countdown continues.

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