This is an opinion column.

These are reflective times in the Alabama football orbit. A day short of Nick Saban’s one-year retirement anniversary, the heavy wake left by that departure is setting in.

Not a sudden light-bulb moment but one with an ever-increasing dimmer. No longer is the health of the dynasty a conversation.

Now, it’s more of a retrospective.

There’s room for appreciation for what that Saban era was, while recognizing the absurdity of the success makes that backside of it harder to digest.

Tonight, two teams from far outside of the Alabama ecosystem will face off in the Orange Bowl semifinal. Notre Dame and Penn State will meet for a spot in the first CFP national title game of the 12-team era, and that got me thinking.

What exactly was the peak of the Nick Saban empire?

Listeners of The Rewatchables podcast from The Ringer know this as the apex mountain debate.

No doubt, there’s room for debate.

But here’s mine.

It was Dec. 29, 2018 in Miami Gardens. Alabama had just undressed Oklahoma in the same (but different) Orange Bowl semifinal — a 45-34 final score that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard would tell you.

To drill down even closer to the epicenter, I can give you the exact moment the dynasty peaked.

Alabama faced a third-and-6 from the Sooners’ 27-yard line with just over 13 minutes left in the second quarter. Tua Tagovailoa took the shotgun snap and quickly fired a pass to running back Josh Jacobs, left unchecked coming out of the backfield. Waiting at the 5-yard line was safety Robert Barnes

The once-unrecruited running back from Tulsa completely trucked the former high school All-American en route to the touchdown.

There, with 13:01 on the clock, Jacobs flexed.

Alabama led 28-0.

And that, my readers, was the mountain top.

Here’s why …

This was a Crimson Tide program coming off two national titles in the previous three years. After hearing the fast-paced game left Saban behind after claiming three in four years from 2009-12), the legendary coach regrouped and reclaimed bully certification.

The only postseason blemish in the 2015-18 span to that point was the title game capping the 2016 season. You might recall Hunter Renfrow’s last-second touchdown catch that spoiled what could’ve been consecutive titles.

The season before this Orange Bowl was the legendary 2nd-and-26 play that’ll live in the greatest college football moments highlight reel forever.

And less than a month before pasting Oklahoma (where he’d eventually rebuild his pro stock), Jalen Hurts came off the bench for his TV-movie redemption moment. With Tagovailoa injured, the previously benched QB completed a comeback over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

Now, Alabama was headed back to the national championship for a fourth straight season as a healthy favorite over familiar dancing partner Clemson. Questions about Tagovailoa’s injured ankle seemingly were answered with his 24-for-27 passing night that out-dueled Heisman winner Kyler Murray. The lefty threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns after finishing as runner-up for the most famous individual prize in the sport.

But Tagovailoa appeared to be on the cusp of adding to his magical legacy with a second straight team title. This one would be his after relieving Hurts at halftime in the previous championship game.

Alabama was 14-0 in what felt like a charmed season fit for the only logical conclusion.

And yet that’s where the wave began to recede.

There, in Miami Gardens — on some of the flattest land on this green earth — the Alabama reign hit its mountain top.

The stunning 44-16 beating Clemson delivered just over a week later in Santa Clara was a splash of ice water to the face of a red-hot program.

The 28-point margin was the most lopsided loss in the Saban era. You had to go back 20 years to find an Alabama beating that decisive.

Stories about issues within the Crimson Tide coaching staff emerged in the aftermath of the blowout. Ultimately, seven of the 10 assistant coaching positions changed hands in the offseason.

The immediate fallout also include big changes to the roster.

Quinnen Williams, the overnight superstar defensive tackle declared for the NFL. He would be drafted third overall that spring. The hallmark of Saban defenses began with bruising linemen like Williams and not one has been drafted in the first round since then.

Statistically, that 2018 Alabama team was a monster. Tagovailoa rewrote records like the season passing yardage mark and touchdown passes. The team destroyed the scoring record (45.6 per game) and the record for yards gained per game (522.0). Compare that to the 2024 team’s average of 33.8 points and 415 yards, and you have some perspective.

The 2018 team did all of that while maintaining the No. 16 total defense nationally in terms of yards and 13th in scoring.

That led to an undefeated regular season, something four of the six Saban title teams didn’t achieve.

The Crimson Tide’s run of playoff appearances ended the following year when losses to LSU and Auburn sent the 2019 team to the Citrus Bowl instead.

And while the 2020 Alabama team won the program’s most recent national title, it felt like a chapter removed from the 2015-18 run.

Alabama played for another title in 2021 and made the playoff in 2023 but the it-factor from those 2015-18 teams was unmistakably gone. The defenses were no-longer hateful like the teams with A’Shawn Robinson, Isaiah Buggs, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Quinnen Williams.

Alabama teams before Dec. 28, 2018 didn’t get embarrassed.

A few after that did.

And while I can listen to arguments for the 2012 team’s dismantling of Notre Dame for a third BCS title in four years, I’m sticking with that 2018 Orange Bowl was the peak of Nick Saban’s dynasty at Alabama.

No moment topped that time Jacobs flexed in the South Florida end zone up 28-0 in the 2018 Orange Bowl.

That, my readers who make it to the end, was the apex mountain of Nick Saban’s dynasty.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.