Since Alabama head coach Nick Saban came to the SEC in 2007, the Tide has won six SEC West titles, four SEC championship titles and three national titles. And the 2015 season isn’t even over yet.

In the five years Alabama didn’t claim the national championship, Florida State was the only team to win who didn’t have to beat the Tide to do so. The only season Saban and his Tide didn’t finish in the top 10 was 2007, which was his first season in Tuscaloosa.

People claim there is bias toward the SEC. But considering how consistently competitive this conference has been in the last decade there should be bias.

Last year was the first year that no SEC team played in the final, national championship-deciding game since Saban arrived on the scene.

Since 2007, the SEC’s record against the other four of the Power 5 conferences is 99-62. That type of dominance presents a stable unit of measure for determining strength of schedule. And every year this conference dominates the others, the stronger future schedules become.

So obviously, Alabama isn’t exactly carrying the rest of the SEC on its shoulders. If the Crimson Tide was the only good team in the conference, it wouldn’t be sporting the second-toughest schedule in the nation, because it can’t play itself. But the competitiveness Saban awoke in the conference is undeniable.

He has set the bar by which the athletic directors around the conference measure their own coaches. This competitiveness has also started what some may consider a disturbing trend in the SEC: you get fired if you can’t beat Saban.

Former Volunteers head coach Phillip Fulmer was a legend in Knoxville until Saban came to town and Alabama crushed Tennessee two years in a row. Fulmer was dismissed in 2008, the week after a home loss to the Tide, but he was allowed to finish out the season.

Former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville led the Tigers to a six-year winning streak in the Iron Bowl, but then resigned when a 36-0 loss to the Tide in 2008 snapped the streak.

Former Florida head coach Urban Meyer led the Gators to 65 wins in six seasons before stepping down. He lost to Alabama twice in the two years before his departure, and there was talk of how he’d never have a championship team as long as Saban was in town.

Another former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik beat Saban just once in four years, and he was fired a mere two years after winning a national championship. His final game was an embarrassing 49-0 collapse in Tuscaloosa.

This week, Georgia head coach Mark Richt was relieved of his duties after losing to Alabama in the last three years, despite what would otherwise be considered highly successful seasons. And LSU head coach Les Miles was on the chopping block after losing five in a row to the Tide.

Richt and Miles are only bested by Saban as the must successful coaches in the SEC, yet consistently losing to him is unacceptable.

Saban has the highest winning percentage of any other SEC coach, sitting pretty at 84 percent.

Saban Record

Alabama also has the best defense in the SEC, and they are No. 1 in the conference in recruiting. With numbers like this, it’s hard to argue that Saban and the Crimson Tide are heavily responsible for the SEC’s dominance.