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Looking back it all seems like a bad dream. Alabama had suffered through its most difficult period in over 50 years. 

From 2000 to 2006 Alabama had four different head coaches and some of Alabama's players went through as many as three times that number in Coordinators and position coaches.

Alabama's rivals had a field day during this period. Teams like Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee had a combined record of 17-4 over the Crimson Tide during these trying times.

It was the worst of times and the Nick Saban entered the picuture.

Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, Al in December of 2006 and even though Alabama fans had greeted all of Alabama's past coaches with enthusiasm, the reception that awaited Nick Saban and his family was in the realm of a homecoming for a conquering hero.

Knowledgeable Alabama fans knew that when the University of Alabama hired Nick Saban, the nightmare was finally over.

The last time Alabama fans felt that way was when Paul "Bear" Bryant was introduced to the Crimson Tide faithful in 1958.

In three short years, Nick Saban has turned Alabama from an also ran into one of the nation's premier college football programs. The Tide has spent the better part of the last two years at the top of the polls and the BCS standings.

Nick Saban calls it the "process". The process is just a matter of getting everyone involved on the same page; the players, the coaching staff, the fans, the alumni, and the institution all working as one.

Saban's first year was spent finding out who wanted to be a part of that process among the young men already on campus. Most of them bought in from the start, others are now playing football someplace else.

The next step for Saban was improving the talent level in the Crimson Tide football program, this would take some time. Alabama had some talented players mixed in with the group Saban inherited, but in order to compete at the highest level, Saban had to sell Alabama to the nation's elite athletes.

His first recruiting class in 2006 was a mix of players that were recruited by the previous coaching staff with a few players Saban managed to bring in the closing days before signing day. Those players are among Alabama's junior class who on this year's 12-0 squad. Among them, are players like Rolando McClain.

Saban's next two signing classes were ranked No. 1 by most recruiting services. Among those classes were players like Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Jarrell Harris Nico Johnson, Dont'a Hightower, D.J. Fluker, A.J. McCarron, and many others that will become household names in the near future.

Saban is now working on adding another stellar group of athletes to his first two recruiting classes already on campus.

Saban surprised even the most optimistic of Alabama fans by leading the Crimson Tide to its first undefeated regular season since 1992, when Gene Stallings led Alabama to a perfect 13-0 record and its 12th National Championship.

Alabama went undefeated in the SEC in 2008 and was the SEC western division champion for the first time since 1999. Alabama came up short in the SEC Championship game and lost to the Florida Gators.

A disappointed Alabama team went on to lose to No. 2 Utah in the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to end the 2008 season on a sour note. Saban said that important lessons were learned in the final two games of 2008.

Even though 2008 ended on a sour note, there was now a new optimism at the Capstone. Alabama went into 2009 with ambitious goals of repeating as Western Division Champions in the SEC and returning to Atlanta for another go at the Florida Gators.

This year should have been a rebuilding season for the Crimson Tide with the loss of its starting quarterback, running back, most of the offensive line, and other key players. With the emergence of Greg McElroy at quarterback and Mark Ingram at running back, talk of rebuilding quickly turned into talk of championships.

Alabama patched up its offensive line with the addition of junior college transfer James Carpenter into a pretty solid group.

Alabama did return most of its top defense from 2008, but the offense was a huge question mark. That question was answered in the first game of the season when Alabama beat the highly regarded Virginia Tech Hokies 34-24. That remains the most points scored on the Hokies' stingy defense to date.

Alabama's disappointing finish to the 2008 season would be used as a motivating tool by Saban to refocus the 2009 team and accomplish Alabama's second undefeated regular season in a row. 

That feat has not been accomplished by any team in the SEC since Bear Bryant's 1965 and 1966 teams did it over 40 years ago. 

Now the Crimson Tide is in position again to take the next step.

Can Alabama take it to the next level by defeating the No. 1 and defending National Champions Florida Gators?

In 2003 while at LSU, Saban's LSU Tigers faced the exact same situation. LSU had finished 2002 with two disappointing losses in the SEC Championship Game to Arkansas and a loss to Texas in their Bowl Game. 

Saban said later that lessons were learned that year as well. Saban led the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Championship in 2003 by beating Georgia in the SEC Championship and No. 1 Oklahoma in the BCS Championship.

Can Saban and the Crimson Tide use the lessons learned in 2008 to take Alabama to the next level in 2009 and win the SEC Championship? The winner of the SEC Championship earns a ticket to the BCS Championship in 2010 in Pasadena, Ca.

The Florida Gators would have to be considered the premier college football team in America since the arrival of Urban Meyer in 2004. The Gators won the BCS in 2006 and 2008.

Defeating the defending national champion Gators in the 2009 SEC Championship could be a tall order especially while they are still being led by Heisman Trophy winner and 2009 Heisman candidate Tim Tebow.

That is the task facing Alabama next Saturday in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome.

Florida and Alabama are the two best teams in the country right now. There is a slight possibility that the BCS could pit both Alabama and Florida in the BCS Title Game in a rematch no matter the outcome this Saturday.

That would be true especially if Alabama beats Florida in a close game.

I think in either case, that would be unfair to all involved.

Florida if favored by almost a touchdown in this game and seems to be at the top of their game.

These two teams are very similar and ranked at the top of so many statistical categories that I won't bore you with the list. Both teams are battle tested and come into this game undefeated and pretty healthy.

Alabama has lost Linebacker Donta' Hightower earlier in the year and Alabama's leading rusher, Mark Ingram sustained a hip injury in the Iron Bowl.

On the Florida side, Linebacker A.J. Jones is doubtful, but other than that everyone else should be able to play.

There has never been a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup in the SEC Championship Game, so we will be seeing history made this coming Saturday at 4:00PM EST.

Last years game pitted the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide against then No. 4 Florida Gators. Florida won that contest and then went on to win the BCS National Championship by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in Miami 24-14.

The Crimson Tide looks to take the next big step under Nick Saban by beating the Florida Gators and hopefully going on to play for the Tides' 13th National Championship in the process.

Maybe that is the true meaning of the word "process" that Saban often speaks about.

If so, maybe this is the year Nick Saban's "process" comes to fruition and the Alabama Crimson Tide takes another huge step towards making college football history.

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