While there are numerous reasons why the University of Alabama football team is considered a significant favorite against Ohio in the Sugar Bowl, one that’s not getting much attention is Nick Saban’s record against the Big Ten.

He coached in the conference at Michigan State, from 1995-99, but since then has faced a Big Ten team six times, and only lost once.

The defeat was the Capital One Bowl at the end of the 2004 season, when Drew Tate threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Warren Holloway on the final play to give No. 11 Iowa a 30-25 victory over No. 12 LSU.

Saban had already announced his resignation at LSU to become the head coach of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

“You always dislike losing a game, especially losing a game like this,” Saban said during his postgame press conference. “The last 14 or 20 seconds of this game somewhat tarnish the things that this team has accomplished in its four years. I only feel badly that I could not do more to help the players play better. …

“Mental errors are a terrible way to lose, because that means the other guy didn’t really physically beat you. You really beat yourself.”

Making the stunning finish even more unlikely was that it was the only touchdown of Holloway’s career.

Saban vs. Big Ten
Season, Opponent, Outcome
2001 vs. Illinois in Sugar Bowl, W 47-34
2004 vs. Iowa in Capital One Bowl, L 30-25
2010 Penn State, W 24-3
2010 vs. Michigan State in Capital One Bowl, W 49-7
2011 at Penn State, W 27-11
2012 vs. Michigan in Cowboys Classic, W 41-14

While Saban went 26-17-1 against conference opponents during his five seasons at Michigan State, the closest he got to the conference title was 1999, when his final Spartans team finished in a tie for second in the Big Ten and No. 7 in the final Associated Press poll.

Michigan State defeated Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State in the same year for the first time since 1965, and recorded six wins at home for the first time since 1912.

Saban was 2-3 against rival Michigan, which won the 1997 national championship the same season Charles Woodson captured the Heisman Trophy.

Michigan State vs. Michigan, 1995-99
Year, Winning team, Score, Location
1995 Michigan State, 28-25 , East Lansing

1996 Michigan, 45-29, Ann Arbor

1997 Michigan, 23-7, East Lansing

1998 Michigan, 29-17, Ann Arbor

1999 Michigan State, 34-31, East Lansing

The 1996 game still bothers him.

“We were ahead like 14-3 and we had the ball,” Saban explained. “I always used the ‘When are we going to go two-minute before the half,’ based on the field position. We didn’t have very good field position. So it was third-and-5 and we threw an incomplete pass. There was about thirty seconds to go in the half and we’re going to punt, we were happy to punt and be ahead 14-3. Well, they called roughing the passer on the quarterback. We got a 15-yard penalty and that put us up right at about the 45-yard line, so we said let’s try and steal a field goal out of this. So we go two-minute right out of the box, the quarterback throws a slant, the safety runs it down from a cover two in a three-deep zone, picks it off and runs 45-yards for a touchdown. So now there’s like 25 seconds (left) and its 14-10. They kick off to us, they pooch-kick, we fumble, they recover it. Woodson was still there because I still remember this, they line up, after the scramble for the ball there’s about 15 seconds to go, they run two plays, don’t score, there’s like seven seconds to go and they put Woodson in at receiver, he runs a post and they throw him the ball, he scores a touchdown. So in like 40 seconds, 35 seconds in the game, we go from being ahead 14-3 to behind 17-14 at Michigan. That was the worst story.

“The best story was the last year I was at Michigan State, when (Tom) Brady was playing, and we won (34-31). That was probably one of the better wins because they had a really good team. That was a really good team that we had too. I just remember we were 5-0, or 6-0, and we were ranked, and we couldn’t live with success, we went and played Drew Brees (and Purdue) the next week and he drilled us. I remember that too.”

Saban’s teams have defeated the last four Big Ten opponents by a combined score of 141-35, which includes a 41-14 victory against Michigan in the 2012 Cowboys Classic – ironically where this year’s national championship will be played, AT&T Stadium. It improved his record to 3-3 against the Wolverines.

Ovrall, Saban is 2-1 as a head coach against Ohio State, where had had been the defensive backs coach in 1980-81. His team lost the first meeting in 1997, 37-13, when OSU was ranked No. 9, but his Spartans knocked off the No. 1 Buckeyes the following year, 28-24, and again in 1999, 23-7.

He’s 4-0 against the Big Ten with the Crimson Tide.

He’ll get another chance on Jan. 1 in the national payoff semifinal (8:30 p.m., ET, ESPN).