Power Ranking Alabama and the Top 10 Defenses in College Football History

Last night's championship game was a remarkable display of great defense. It may not have been sexy for offensive lovers, but for those who enjoy hard hitting and teams actually having to work to score, it was fantastic. 

They always say defense wins championships, and if you look at the majority of national championship winners, the saying is true. Offense is what brings in the ratings and gets people excited; defense wins games.

What Alabama did last night against LSU was legendary and won't be forgotten anytime soon by the college football world.

Here are the top 10 defenses of all time, including this year's Alabama team. (Notice how many of these teams end up winning the national championship.)

Ohio State: 1968

This 1968 Buckeyes team may have just been the best overall team Ohio State has ever seen. This was the first year the Buckeyes allowed "pride stickers" for their helmets, and you can bet there were quite a few handed out for their defense.

In six games, Ohio State allowed 20 points or less. It finished the year undefeated and held the Trojans' explosive offense, that included O.J. Simpson, to just 16 points.

Defensive back Jack Tatum was on this Ohio State defense, and he became one of the most feared tacklers of all time.

Oklahoma: 1985

Despite losing to the Miami Hurricanes early on in the season, this Oklahoma team ended up running the rest of the table and finishing the year No. 1.

You can thank the defense for a lot of that success. (Of course, Troy Aikman playing quarterback helped a little bit as well).

This defense allowed 10 points or less a total of nine times. In case you're not good at math, that means a team scored more than 10 points on this defense only three times.

Later in the year, Oklahoma played the No. 2 team in Nebraska, who was leading the country in points scored. The only score the Cornhuskers got was a fumble return for a touchdown.

Nebraska: 1995

This team was known for scoring a lot of points, but looking back on it, Nebraska also played some fantastic defense.

Sure, it allowed more points than a lot of other teams on this list, but the opposing offenses got a lot more chances because of how often the Nebraska offense scored.

All you have to do is see what Nebraska did against the Florida Gators at the end of the year. A team that scored over 40 points a total of seven times only scored 24 against this Nebraska defense.

Miami: 2001

This 2001 Miami Hurricanes team is considered by many to be the greatest college football team of all time.

Not only because it played great on both sides of the ball, but if you look at the roster, you'll see several players that are playing on Sundays right now.

This defense was built on speed and gave up a total of seven points or less, a total of eight times. The Hurricanes then ended up playing Nebraska (who had Heisman winner Eric Crouch as its quarterback) for the national championship, and they only gave up 14 points.

Alabama: 1992

You'll get used to seeing Alabama on this list because its defenses have always been strong in this program's history. This one comes from the 1992 national championship team, where the Crimson Tide ended up finishing the year undefeated.

They led the country in points allowed with only 9.2 a game and held a high-scoring Miami team to only 13 points in the Sugar Bowl. There were three shutouts this season, and only two teams scored 21 points, which was the most allowed by this defense all year.

The rushing average allowed was less than two yards per attempt.

Oklahoma: 1974

This team is often forgotten about because when this Sooners team finished the year No. 1 and undefeated, nothing was made of it because they were on probation.

Although, we'll give them some credit because their defense was incredible.

Oklahoma forced a shutout three times this season and allowed no more than 14 points a game, and only three teams were even able to score that much.

Defensive end Lee Roy Selmon eventually became the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.

Alabama: 2011

The team that nobody believed should have been in the national championship really proved those critics wrong in the BCS title game.

This defense shut out the LSU Tigers, only allowed 92 total yards and only let them reach the 50-yard line one time. For those saying the Tigers offense is horrible, it came in averaging 35 points per contest.

Alabama pitched three shutouts this year, is first in pretty much every major statistical category and gave up less than nine points per game. 

I don't hear anybody arguing now.

Syracuse: 1959

This may have been the greatest Syracuse football team of all time, as it went undefeated and won the national championship—in large part because of its defense.

Syracuse only allowed a total of 25 points for the season. It had five shutouts and held teams under a combined 200 rushing yards.

That doesn't even sound right. If you take all 10 regular season performances against this Syracuse defense and add them up, you wouldn't surpass 200 rushing yards.

That's defense for you.

Nebraska: 1971

This Nebraska team had one of the greatest defensive lines of all time, led by Larry Jacobson and Rich Glover. This defense only allowed more than seven points three times.

Sure, it gave up 31 points to Oklahoma, but that was the No. 2 team in the country at the time, and it had an explosive offense.

Overall, this undefeated team had three shutouts this year and only gave up more than seven points a total of three times.

Alabama: 1961

As you can see, Alabama is on this list quite a bit because the Crimson Tide has always played stifling defense.

But you can't have a list of the greatest defenses of all time without putting head coach Bear Bryant's first national championship team on here.

In 1961, the Crimson Tide went 10-0, winning the national championship and only allowing a total of 22 combined points. There were a total of six shutouts, and the most points they allowed in a single game was seven.

We may never see a defense like this ever again.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers college football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail].