Before Alabama laid a 40-17 smackdown on Mississippi State in Starkville last Saturday, the Crimson Tide players and coaches caught a movie.

Typically, the team will get a private screening of something new on the verge of hitting theaters, but this time, Nick Saban said they reached into the vault for the team’s pregame ritual.

During his postgame press conference, the head coach revealed the Bama players watched the controversial 1993 college football classic “The Program.”

Released the same year as the more-revered “Rudy,” the Notre Dame underdog story starring Sean Astin, “The Program” has gone somewhat unheralded in conversations about the best football movies since its release three decades ago. It did not perform well at the box office, and critics were also lukewarm, but many former players and college football fans who happened to see it insist it belongs in the discussion for the best of the genre.

Below are a few facts about this underrated sports gem — which turns 30 in 2023 — including Nick Saban’s comments, what it’s about, where you can stream it and what the critics had to say back when it came out in theaters.

What’s it about?

Directed and co-written by David S. Ward (“Major League,” “The Sting”), the film takes a cynical look at modern college athletics, following fictional college football team the Eastern State University Timberwolves as they deal with the pressure to make a bowl game, substance abuse, improper recruiting tactics and more.

It focuses on a legendary coach past his prime, a weary Heisman candidate quarterback, a naive freshman superstar running back, intensely competitive defensive leaders and various love interests.

Who’s in it?

“The Godfather” and “Thief” star James Caan, who died in 2022, stars as legendary coach Sam Winters, a revered college football figure faced with a must-win season or mandatory early retirement.

Craig Sheffer (“A River Runs through It”) stars as troubled sophomore quarterback and Heisman contender Joe Kane, opposite Kristy Swanson as ESU tennis player and love interest Camille.

Omar Epps plays hotshot freshman running back Darnell Jefferson, who develops a romance with ESU student Autumn, here played by future Oscar-winner Halle Berry.

Andrew Bryniarski (“Any Given Sunday,” “Street Fighter”) plays steroid-using defensive lineman Steve Lattimer, while Duane Davis (”Necessary Roughness,” “Under Siege”) plays superstar trash-talking linebacker Alvin Mack.

Where was it filmed?

Most of the film was shot in Columbia, South Carolina, with the University of South Carolina doubling for ESU and Williams-Brice Stadium standing in for the Timberwolves’ home stadium. It was also partially filmed on the campus of Duke University.

Where can I watch it?

Subscribers can currently stream the movie on Amazon’s Prime Video.

What Nick Saban said…

The Alabama coached was asked about his team’s approach to short-yardage situations, their formations switching from shotgun to pistol instead of the quarterback going under center. Saban said the difference was how they snap the ball, by clapping in shotgun or by using voice command while under center, the latter of which can cause communication/play breakdowns in loud environments. But then Saban referenced his time as a player, as well as what the players saw in the 1993 movie they watched before the Mississippi State game.

“You know, when I played, everybody was in an I-formation and the quarterback was under center,” he said. “You know, we watched a movie last night called ‘The Program,’ which was like 30 years ago — which I played 30 years before that — and that’s the only formation there was in the whole game, was the I-formation, quarterback under center. So now the quarterback’s never under center.”

What the critics said…

While the film holds only a 43% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience came through with 80%. Some chided its “fairly standard story lines in a football movie” with “underwritten roles.” But despite the silliness of some of the plotting, others called it a “revealing film about the extraordinary pressure of modern competitive sport.”

What one football player said…

Former Auburn offensive lineman and current ESPN analyst (and AL.com contributor) Cole Cubelic recently discussed the film on the “For the Watercooler” podcast, praising it as the best football movie, period.

“People debate me that this is the best football movie ever made,” he said. “They actually debate that, and there is no debate…There’s no better football movie.”

Cubelic (with former AL.com staffer Matt Scalici and cohost Caroline Darney) discusses the film’s realistic portrayal of college athletics, specifically how student athletes navigate the pressures of delivering at the highest level despite media and fan scrutiny.

What do we think?

While flawed and somewhat melodramatic in parts, it’s as accurate a depiction of the college football landscape as you’ll ever find, even 30 years later in the advent of the College Football Playoff or NIL (name, image, and likeness).

They nailed the casting, with several actors playing convincing football players, especially Omar Epps. The man is a multisport athlete. Along with “Major League II” and “Love & Basketball,” Epps has proven himself on any surface with any ball.

In this bleak look at the pitfalls student-athletes face in college, he plays freshman running back Darnell Jefferson working on his ball security and love life. But as usual, Epps looks the part, as do many of his teammates, played by Craig Sheffer, Andrew Bryniarski and the real standout Duane Davis as ferocious linebacker Alvin Mack. When asked about his assignment during a film session, the laser-focused Mack says, “Hit the tight end so hard his girlfriend dies.”

MORE: 15 actors who are actually convincing as football players

Similar to William Friedkin’s college basketball drama “Blue Chips,” which would release just a year later, “The Program” pulls back the curtain on some unfortunate realities of amateur athletics. While perhaps somewhat exaggerated for dramatic effect, the movie deserves credit for not merely painting a rosy or romantic picture of a sport that, while beloved for good reason, also has a dark side too few films have explored. “The Program” isn’t perfect, but it had the courage to tell a story Hollywood had long avoided and has since never properly revisited even as college football has exploded into even more of a global phenomenon.

Did you know?

The film originally included a scene in which quarterback Joe Kane lies down in the middle of a busy street as speeding cars narrowly avoid him, while his teammates join him in the road for a death-defying adrenaline rush. The studio would later pull the scene, which was featured in television commercials promoting the film, after teenagers imitated the sequence, resulting in death and injuries.