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2005 Alabama

10–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mike Shula, finished No. 8 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠2: the NCAA vacated nine regular-season wins and the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic win.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “In 2009, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) levied sanctions against Alabama, forcing the Crimson Tide to vacate all of their wins from the season.”

Schedule and results

Alabama in 2005, game by game: won vs. Middle Tennessee 26–7; won vs. Southern Miss 30–21; won at South Carolina 37–14; won vs. Arkansas 24–13; won vs. No. 5 Florida 31–3; won at Ole Miss 13–10; won vs. No. 17 Tennessee 6–3; won vs. Utah State 35–3; won at Mississippi State 17–0; lost vs. No. 5 LSU 13–16; lost at No. 11 Auburn 18–28; won vs. No. 18 Texas Tech 13–10+32−10Won 26–7 vs. Middle Tennessee+19Middle TennesseeWon 30–21 vs. Southern Miss+9Southern MissWon 37–14 at South Carolina+23South CarolinaWon 24–13 vs. Arkansas+11ArkansasWon 31–3 vs. No. 5 Florida+28No. 5 FloridaWon 13–10 at Ole Miss+3Ole MissWon 6–3 vs. No. 17 Tennessee+3No. 17 TennesseeWon 35–3 vs. Utah State+32Utah StateWon 17–0 at Mississippi State+17Mississippi Sta…Lost 13–16 vs. No. 5 LSU-3No. 5 LSULost 18–28 at No. 11 Auburn-10No. 11 AuburnWon 13–10 vs. No. 18 Texas Tech+3No. 18 Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsMiddle TennesseeW 26–⁠7vacated70%
Sep 10vsSouthern MissW 30–⁠21vacated60%
Sep 17atSouth CarolinaW 37–⁠14vacated49%
Sep 24vsArkansasW 24–⁠13vacated68%
Oct 1vs5FloridaW 31–⁠3vacated52%
Oct 15atOle MissW 13–⁠10vacated66%
Oct 22vs17TennesseeW 6–⁠3vacated63%
Oct 29vsUtah StateW 35–⁠3vacated89%
Nov 5atMississippi StateW 17–⁠0vacated81%
Nov 12vs5LSUL 13–⁠1651%
Nov 19at11AuburnL 18–⁠2833%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs18Texas TechCotton BowlW 13–⁠10vacated46%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas Tech 13–⁠10 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 70th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 20
  2. Wk 5: 15
  3. Wk 6: 7
  4. Wk 7: 6
  5. Wk 8: 5
  6. Wk 9: 5
  7. Wk 10: 4
  8. Wk 11: 4
  9. Wk 12: 8
  10. Wk 13: 14
  11. Wk 14: 14
  12. Final: 8

Consensus All-AmericanDeMeco Ryans, LB

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 4
Points
263–⁠128
Coach
Mike Shula
Elo
1660 +136 this season
SP+ rating
19.8 No. 14 of 118; offense No. 53, defense No. 2
SRS
11.9 No. 19 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 16
Offensive coordinator
David Rader
Defensive coordinator
Joe Kines
Captains
Brodie Croyle and DeMeco Ryans
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense52nd of 119
  • Defense9th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0640%0.9952nd of 119
Defense-0.0231%1.159th of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 302% allowed
Defense0.0own 304% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2005 class

Roy Upchurch RB★★★★No. 74
Chris Keys S★★★★No. 88
Antonio Forbes SDE★★★No. 493
Scott Deaton OG★★★No. 829
Baron Huber ILB★★No. 966

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.971
Offensive line22.50.767
Defensive line13.00.833
Linebackers12.00.789
Defensive backs23.00.843
Whole class72.90.830

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 2DeMeco Ryans LBHouston Texans
Rd 2Roman Harper DBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 3Brodie Croyle QBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Charlie Peprah DBNew York Giants
Rd 5Mark Anderson DEChicago Bears

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU7–⁠111–⁠26
Auburn7–⁠19–⁠314
Alabama6–⁠210–⁠28
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠310
Florida5–⁠39–⁠312
South Carolina5–⁠37–⁠5
Vanderbilt3–⁠55–⁠6
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠63–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠73–⁠8
Ole Miss1–⁠73–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.