On Tuesday, the 2024 Alabama football season came to a merciful conclusion with a loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Reliaquest Bowl. This one fell off the rails early for the Crimson Tide, who suffered through three first quarter turnovers from Jalen Milroe, before ultimately falling by a more respectable final score of 19-13.

The loss gave Alabama a final record of 9-4 for the 2024 season and marked the fourth straight year that the Tide did not win the national championship.

One person who wasn't thrilled with what he saw unfold in Tampa on Tuesday was former Crimson Tide and current ESPN College Gameday analyst Nick Saban, who recently took to the program to relay his thoughts.

“Turnovers just kill you in a game, and obviously Alabama had two or three of them early in the game. Michigan’s guys played well in the game. I don’t think Alabama did,” Saban said Wednesday, per Alex Byington of On3 Sports.

Saban then insinuated that the Tide may have lost because they didn't have an adequate amount of motivation for their liking.

“I think one of the big things that’s always been an issue is for all these teams that have a chance to get in the Playoffs and don’t, it’s always a huge letdown when you go play — not to take anything away from Michigan — a huge letdown when you play in a bowl game,” said Saban.

Alabama vindicates the committee

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After Alabama football was left out of the college football playoff in favor of SMU, there was a considerable outcry from certain corners of the sport about the fact that the Tide, despite their three losses, deserved the spot instead.

Those cries grew louder when SMU was demolished in the playoff by Penn State.

However, in their performance against Michigan, Alabama did absolutely nothing to prove that the committee got it wrong, instead reverting to the same bad habits that plagued them throughout their frustrating 2024 season, including most notably Jalen Milroe and his turnover problems.

The Alabama football program now enters what figures to be somewhat of a transitional period moving forward, as the team is several years removed from its most recent championship and has more questions than answers about Kalen DeBoer one year into his coaching tenure in Tuscaloosa.

It will certainly be an interesting offseason for the program that once dominated the college football landscape.