Playing Alabama usually leads to one loss.

But can it lead to two … or more?

Is there a bone-crushing, confidence-crushing Alabama-effect in play that causes SEC teams to lose their next regular season game, too?

In the spirit of MythBusters, let’s take a look at the past five seasons, during which Alabama won three national championships, and see if we can prove or disprove the theory.

2011

Alabama finished 12-1 and avenged its only regular season loss by beating LSU 21-0 in the BCS championship game.

Seven SEC opponents lost to Alabama that regular season.

  • Arkansas: The Razorbacks won seven straight after losing to Alabama 38-14.
  • Florida: The Gators were 4-0 before losing to Alabama 38-10 at home, then lost their next three games.
  • Vanderbilt: The Commodores lost their next game, at home, to an unranked Georgia team.
  • Ole Miss: The 2011 poster-children lost their final six games after falling to Alabama 52-7 at home. Alabama started the Rebels’ season-ending seven-game losing streak.
  • Tennessee: The Vols lost at Alabama, returned home and lost to No. 13 South Carolina 14-3. Give the Tide some credit, but not all of it. Tennessee lost to Georgia, No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Alabama and then South Carolina in a four-week stretch.
  • Mississippi State: One week after losing at home to Alabama, the Bulldogs lost 44-17 at No. 6 Arkansas.
  • Auburn: The Tigers had a month to recover from their Iron Bowl loss and dominated Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Bottom line: Five lost at least their next regular season game.

2012

Alabama again went 7-1 in the SEC en route to its second consecutive national championship.

  • Arkansas: The Razorbacks lost the next two after No. 1 Alabama throttled them 52-0 in Fayetteville.
  • Ole Miss: Call it progress. The Rebels lost only their next game, at home to Texas A&M, after losing at Alabama.
  • Missouri: The Tigers had a bye week after falling to Alabama and recovered to beat Kentucky.
  • Tennessee: Just like the previous year, the Volunteers caught the Tide in the third game of a four-game set against ranked SEC opponents. Tennessee lost all four, which means it lost the next game, at No. 13 South Carolina.
  • Mississippi State: The Bulldogs were rolling, undefeated, ranked No. 13 when the Tide reminded them who owned the house with a 38-7 thumping in Tuscaloosa. That loss triggered a three-game losing streak, as losses to Texas A&M and LSU followed.
  • LSU: The Tigers recovered from a tough, last-minute 21-17 setback at home to win their next three.
  • Auburn: The loss to Alabama ended a 3-9 season … and Gene Chizik’s tenure.

Bottom line: Four teams turned one loss into at least two.

2013

Alabama again went 7-1 in the SEC, but its lone loss knocked it out of the SEC Championship Game and BCS title contention.

  • Texas A&M: The schedule might have been a Band-Aid, but the Aggies won their next three after a tough 49-42 home loss to No. 1 Alabama.
  • Ole Miss: Yet again, one loss against Alabama turned into a losing streak. This time, the Rebels lost their next two.
  • Kentucky: Alabama was the fourth consecutive ranked team the Wildcats faced. They lost all four games — and despite having a bye week to recover, also lost their next game at unranked Mississippi State.
  • Arkansas: The Razorbacks started 3-0 and lost their final nine games. Alabama was merely in the middle, but it was the most lopsided (52-0) and four losses followed.
  • Tennessee: A loss at Alabama led to a three-game losing streak.
  • LSU: The Tigers took a week off, shook off their 38-17 loss in Tuscaloosa and thumped No. 12 Texas A&M 34-10 to start a season-ending three-game winning streak.
  • Mississippi State: No hangover. Quite the opposite. The Bulldogs beat Arkansas and Ole Miss, both in overtime, over the next 12 days.

Bottom line: A dent in the theory? Three of the seven SEC teams suffered no Alabama hangover and won their next game.

2014

Yet again, Alabama went 7-1 in the SEC, won the SEC Championship and lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

  • Florida: The Gators prevented a loss to Alabama from turning into two when Austin Hardin (yes!) kicked an eventual game-winning, 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for a 10-9 win at Tennessee.
  • Arkansas: The Razorbacks nearly upset Alabama, falling 14-13 … but then lost their next game as well to Georgia.
  • Texas A&M: The Aggies hit the reset button after Alabama handed them a 59-0 lesson. They had a bye week, then beat Louisiana-Monroe and No. 3 Auburn in consecutive weeks.
  • Tennessee: The Volunteers might have gained confidence by scoring 20 points in a loss against Alabama. They won in overtime at South Carolina the following week.
  • LSU: Ouch. No shame in losing in overtime to No. 5 Alabama, but the Tigers fell flat the following week too, suffering a rare shutout in a 17-0 loss to Arkansas. That was Bret Bielema’s first SEC win, and Arkansas’ first SEC win after 17 consecutive losses. “It would be impossible for me to say ‘No, that didn’t happen,” Les Miles told reporters, when asked about the possibility of an emotional hangover from last week’s loss. “At this point in time, a guy sitting in my seat is looking for answers.”
  • Mississippi State: The Bulldogs were undefeated, ranked No. 1 when they rolled into Tuscaloosa full of upset hopes. Alabama survived 25-20 thanks to a signature fourth-quarter drive, but the Bulldogs didn’t allow that loss to turn into two. They crushed Vanderbilt a week later 51-0.
  • Auburn: Auburn lost the Iron Bowl and fell to Wisconsin a month later in the Outback Bowl.

Bottom line: Clearly teams are finding the cure for the Alabama hangover. Just two allowed the one loss to turn into more in the regular season.

2015

Alabama went 7-1 in the SEC, won the SEC Championship Game and the national championship.

  • Georgia: The Bulldogs were undefeated, Nick Chubb was healthy and rolling and Sanford Stadium was rocking until Alabama quieted everybody with a 38-10 victory. That loss turned into two when the Bulldogs lost Chubb and fell to Tennessee the following week.
  • Arkansas: The Razorbacks won four straight after losing at Alabama to fall to 2-4.
  • Texas A&M: One loss turned into two as the Aggies dropped their next game, at Ole Miss 23-3 in their weakest offensive performances.
  • Tennessee: The Volunteers led Alabama late in the fourth quarter, at Tuscaloosa before falling 19-14. The Vols were 3-4 but rather than fold, they regrouped and reeled off six consecutive wins to close the season.
  • LSU: The Tigers were undefeated, ranked No. 2 and dreaming of the playoffs and a Heisman celebration when Alabama flipped the script and nearly cost Les Miles his job. A home loss to Arkansas followed, and LSU then lost a third consecutive game, at Ole Miss.
  • Mississippi State: Dak Prescott had no answer for Alabama, but he had a career-day the following week at Arkansas, throwing for 508 yards and 5 touchdowns in a wild 51-50 win.
  • Auburn: The Tigers bounced back a month later to make NFL prospect Paxton Lynch look ordinary in a 31-10 victory in the Birmingham Bowl.

Bottom line: Once again, more teams are becoming immune to the Alabama hangover.

Myth busted or proven?

Early on, evidence supported some type of hangover. Like anything else, humans grow conditioned to regular occurrences — in this case, losing to Alabama.

In the past two years, more SEC teams than not recovered quickly and won their next regular season game.

What might have been a thing no longer is: The legend of the hangover from losing to Alabama, at this point, is more myth than fact.