Despite Sugar Bowl Loss, 2014 Alabama Team Will Enjoy Positive Legacy

Expectations can be a fickle thing at Alabama. Redshirt senior safety Nick Perry summed it up best during Alabama’s bowl prep two weeks ago.

"I’ve been on great teams, and I’ve been on teams that lost three games,” Perry said. “So I’ve seen both ends of it.”

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That’s the reality in Tuscaloosa. A three-loss season—like Alabama suffered in 2010, Perry’s freshman year—represents an unmitigated disaster unthinkable in this era of Crimson Tide football that Nick Saban is presiding over.

Where 95 percent of college football teams would be happy with that 10-3 season that concluded with a total destruction of Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl, it’s seen as an anomaly in Tuscaloosa, a season spoken of only in hushed tones.

So it stands to reason that 2014, a season that started with so much promise but ended with heartbreak at the hands of Ohio State, will be largely lost in the annals of Alabama football history.

Perhaps in 50 or 100 years, when the Bryant Museum is a virtual reality machine that you fly through telepathically on a hoverboard, fans will gloss over the part about the 2014 season.

But for now and the near future, when Alabama fans still have to drive to the museum and walk through it, they will look fondly on this season and team—one that started with low expectations compared to others under Saban, developed some very likeable players on both sides of the ball and overcame its few deficiencies to produce some exciting moments.

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A lot of this starts and ends with Blake Sims, who is right up there with Mark Ingram for most likeable Alabama stars in recent memory.

It’s not that fans hated AJ McCarron. But the two-time national champion quarterback didn’t exactly endear himself to the fanbase late in his career and even after he left. From throwing players under the bus after the Sugar Bowl loss, to his exceedingly public relationship and marriage to Katherine Webb, to his wildly overrated draft projections, to his criticism of the current leadership at Alabama, fans tired of the Mobile product very fast.

In a lot of ways, Sims was a character foil for McCarron, a feel-good story that won’t be forgotten any time soon.

He was a fifth-year senior who had waited his turn very patiently, playing several positions before winning a quarterback battle that was heavily tilted against his favor. Sims made no off-field news to speak of, and Saban couldn’t compliment him enough as a player and teammate.

Alabama was also looking to replace former stars like C.J. Mosley and leaders like Kevin Norwood. Out of those losses came likeable personalities and emerging playmakers like Reggie Ragland and DeAndrew White.

And then there’s Amari Cooper.

Just about everyone knew that the Crimson Tide’s star receiver was extremely talented. But Cooper exceeded just about every expectation put before him to become a Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the faces of this season.

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Like Sims, Cooper was also extremely likeable off the field—a humble superstar who is as genuine and likeable as they come.

This team came together for some memorable moments, too.

Memories of Landon Collins’ interception against Arkansas leading to a massive on-field celebration won’t fade very soon. Neither will those of Sims rallying the team with 50 seconds left at LSU to tie, and ultimately win, one of the most exciting games in that series’ history. And Sims bouncing back from three interceptions to win the highest-scoring Iron Bowl ever might be the high point of the entire year.

There will also be hardware to remember the season by. This team still won a championship, even if it was “only” one of the SEC variety. There will be tangible pieces of evidence for this great run.

But Alabama teams are measured by national championships. 2014 will not hold up to 2009, 2011, 2012 and any others that Saban may win in Tuscaloosa in that regard.

It will, though, stir positive emotions from fans and not be lost forever, remembered for its positives instead of forgotten for its failures.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.