Alabama has won three national championships during the past five seasons and did quite well during the two seasons it wasn’t playing for the title. How has the team avoided the big letdown?

The key seems to be the program’s philosophy: Always play to win rather to than to avoid losing. Get better every week. And know that, hey, you’re Alabama, you can play for the national championship with one loss, maybe even two, so there’s no reason not to stay motivated.

Head coach Nick Saban, whose team is riding a 22-game winning streak, was asked at Monday’s press conference whether last weekend’s losses by several high-ranked teams sent a message to his squad.

“No, I think the message is, when you win, you control your own destiny,” he said. “When you don’t, you allow someone else to determine the way it’s going to be.

“So, we have all these teams that lost one game now. Somebody has to decide who gets to do what. If you put yourself in that situation, you let somebody else decide what your fate is. If you take care of your business and do things the way you need to do it, you can control your own destiny by how you play.”

Many still debate whether Alabama deserved to play in the 2011 all-SEC BCS Championship Game. Admittedly, the team received a big break when Iowa State upset previously unbeaten Oklahoma State, opening the door for Alabama. The Tide lost late in the season that year, falling 9-6 in overtime to LSU in its ninth game.

Saban used the final three games of the regular season to correct small defensive errors while improving the offense and the special teams. Bama capped its strong final push by dominating Auburn, one year removed from a national championship, 42-14. With plenty of time to prepare for its rematch with LSU, Alabama shut down the Tigers offense and took the national title 21-0.

The 2012 season followed a similar script — a November loss to Texas A&M followed by four consecutive wins en route to the SEC and national titles.

If you’re looking for a true letdown by the Tide, look to the 2013 season. And it’s hard not to excuse them for what happened in the Sugar Bowl, a 45-31 loss to Oklahoma. As you probably recall, Bama was 11-0 going into the Iron Bowl against 10-1 Auburn. With the score 28-28 and one second remaining, Alabama’s attempt for a 57-yard game-winning field goal turned into a 100-yard return for a game-losing touchdown. That’s the one recent time Saban and his staff couldn’t fully motivate the squad to bounce back. Can you blame them?

“OK, when we lost in November, I think we played to keep from getting beat, rather than being aggressive to play to win,” Saban said at his press conference this week. “I think that comes from anxiety that gets created worrying about outcomes rather than focusing on what you need to do to get the outcome that you want.”

Last season and 2014 are further illustrations of Alabama avoiding a major letdown. Last season, the team was still finding its identity when it faced Ole Miss, turned the ball over five times and lost. However, the team won an easy game the following week against Louisiana-Monroe and regrouped. After ULM, the Crimson Tide reeled off 11 straight wins including six straight against SEC opponents. Saban challenged his team to respond, and respond they did. The team rode the shoulders of a very good defense and eventual Heisman trophy winner Derrick Henry. The coaching staff had time to prepare for Michigan State (38-0) and Clemson (45-40 for the title) in the College Football Playoff.

The team followed a similar trajectory in 2014, losing to Ole Miss in October and squeaking out a 14-13 victory over Arkansas the next week to start an eight-game winning streak. Relying more heavily on the offense, Bama gained momentum as the season progressed and took the SEC title before losing to Ohio State 42-35 in the national semis.

Seemingly always in the hunt for a national title, Alabama knows how to prepare for big games and how to play in them. They’re 10-0 with a clear path to the College Football Playoff. Here we go again.