Fun fact about AU HCs and MNCs

Malzahn is now the 5th consecutive HC (not counting interim HC Bill Oliver) to have AU in the national championship picture following an Iron Bowl victory.

Since Shug took over 60+ years ago, the only AU HC not to have a legitimate shot at an MNC in a season was Doug Barfield. Final AP poll ranking for each HC listed below.

Shug: #1 in 1957
Dye: #3 in 1983 (7 1st place votes)
Bowden: #4 in 1993 (4 1st place votes)
Tuberville: #2 in 2004 (3 1st place votes)
Chizik: #1 in 2010
Malzahn: currently #3 (2 1st place votes).

Takeaway: in the highly unlikely event Texas steals Gustav from us, our next HC will likely have us right back at the top. It's a proven historical trend.