re: So, how does Alabama finish the regular season if Saban had stayed?

Honestly, I think Alabama would have went 11-1 or 10-2 having seen how this season played out with DeBoer's staff and knowing that Alabama would have have had a better overall roster at corner, safety, and receiver.

I've harped on it a lot but Alabama is missing a third wide receiver. I have no doubt that we would've found someone like Bernard or better in the portal plus Williams would have still signed. So that means we have Bond, Williams, and some portal receiver that likely gives us 500-700 yards.

Alabama has a lot of inexperience at corner and that was partly due to Amos leaving when Saban retired. Our corner situation would have been stable from the outset.

Caleb Downs at safety immediately makes the entire defense a good bit better.

I think Saban would have not put as much of the offense on Jalen Milroe to avoid his habit of bad interceptions and fumbles. This offense would have been less explosive but it would have fewer backbreaking turnovers. Frankly, maybe only the Georgia game is an example of explosive offense winning the game for Alabama. The games we lost would have been better served by a little bit more stability and talent on defense with an offense that kept Milroe buttoned up a bit more.

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You think Saban would have allowed 5-5 Oklahoma to beat Bama with a playoff spot on the line ?

ZERO chance Saban allows Bama to lose that game IMO

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Saban was the greatest coach of all time... and was also a fluke play away from letting a 6-6 Auburn team (that was blown out by New Mexico State) beat Bama with a playoff spot on the line last year... a few weeks before that, he had to fight off a 4 win Arkansas comeback and before that, he almost shite the bed against South Florida. Then there's the pesky fact that he was beaten without compunction by a team Deboer beat.

And Saban had the luxury of the 51 additional players that either transferred or went pro which included Kool-Aid, Turner, Arnold, Downs, Braswell, Eboigbe, Key, Niblack, Amos, etc. that Deboer doesn't this year.

But yeah, how dare Deboer take remnants of that same erratic team and not blow everyone out...

For the ninety-leventh time, although I think you get it, Saban worked miracles with that team in 2023. And he had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the game at Auburn, that win stemmed from blind arse luck and bad Barn defense and he was just a spectator like everyone else in the stadium.