TAMPA, Fla. - Alabama still has four national championships under football coach Nick Saban as a result of Monday night's 35-31 loss to Clemson.
What Alabama also has under Saban are four heartbreaking defeats as the nation's top-ranked team that derailed the Crimson Tide's title aspirations - the 2008 Southeastern Conference championship game against Florida, the 2013 Auburn showdown that ended with the "Kick Six," the 2014 national semifinal against Ohio State and Monday night's thriller inside Raymond James Stadium.
Saban does not rank them in any particular order of pain.
"I think every loss is very painful," Saban said early Tuesday morning in a news conference as Clemson players still were celebrating on the field. "My loss is really for the bad feeling that I have for the players who have worked so hard to create this opportunity for themselves. Not to be able to finish it is very disappointing for me.
"I would have loved to have seen this team accomplish and achieve a goal that they had worked very hard for, and that's the part that makes it difficult, but every loss, if you're a competitor, is never good."
The Crimson Tide carried a 26-game win streak into the rematch of last season's title game that they won 45-40 in Arizona. Alabama denied Clemson an opportunity last January to become the first Bowl Subdivision team to post a 15-0 season.
Clemson denied Alabama that same chance Monday night.
"You never want to be on this end of it, but tonight we were," Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts said after his first college defeat. "Clemson lost last year, and they had this on their minds all year. Now we're in their shoes, and we have to bounce back."
Hurts, who completed just 13 of 31 passes on an offense that compiled 376 yards but was only 2-of-15 on third-down conversions, said his sophomore year was starting immediately. For seniors such as tight end O.J. Howard, defensive end Jonathan Allen and linebackers Reuben Foster, Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams, there is no opportunity for atonement with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama's four-year seniors finished with a 51-6 record, including a 29-3 mark in SEC games, and won three league titles to earn three playoff trips.
"We can't let one game define us," Williams said. "We had an awesome season. We're going to be all right. We're Bama."
The Tide open next season against Florida State at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and it's possible that Alabama and FSU will enter as the nation's top two teams. A No. 1 ranking for Alabama would extend its current record to 10 years of being at the top of the polls at some point of the season.
Saban soon will get working on his 2017 team, but he doesn't want Monday's result to lessen what his 2016 squad accomplished.
"I will remember this team as a group of winners and great competitors," Saban said. "These were guys who showed great resiliency throughout the season in some of the games we got down in and some of the games where we didn't play very well. They kept coming back, and it was demonstrated in this game when we got behind 28-24. Our offense gave us a chance to win, but we didn't get the stop defensively.
"I don't think one game defines who you are as a person, as a competitor and as a team, and it certainly does not define what this group of young men was able to accomplish this year."
Scarbrough's status
Alabama sophomore tailback Bo Scarbrough suffered a fracture in his right lower leg during Monday night's third quarter, the university announced Tuesday.
"The injury is nonsurgical, and we anticipate he will make a full recovery," Saban said in a released statement.
Scarbrough had 16 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns at the time of his setback, but his teammates were not using his absence as an excuse.
"We've played without Bo before," Hurts said. "He's been a key to us lately, but you just have to execute what's called."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.