re: What's the most devastating regular season loss for each football program?

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Alabama was undefeated and headed for a national championship game

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Even if we would have held on to beat Auburn that scenario is doubtful. USC was #1 for much of the season while we were behind them at #2. USC would have gone to the Rose Bowl to meet a Top 5 Ohio State team (just as they did in reality), while we would have been stuck in another major bowl game (either the Sugar or the Cotton). The best we could have hoped for in '72 was a split national championship because USC absolutely CRUSHED Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

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The 1972 Alabama lose (17-16) to Auburn was, IMO, the most devastating loss. Alabama was undefeated and headed for a national championship game, but Auburn blocked 2 punts and returned them both for TDs in the 4th quarter to win. The thing that made it so devastating was that Alabama was by far the superior team and Auburn couldn't have scored an offensive TD in 10 quarters off that Alabama defense.

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The older Bama fans always reference this one as the biggest "what the heck" game. A blocked punt returned for a TD is not very common, but two in one quarter is crazy (and by the same guy).