The Bill Belichick and Nick Saban ‘Curse’
Last night the Georgia Bulldogs took home the 2022 National College Championship, leaving Nick Saban with a 6-3 record in the big game as the coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. This record is strikingly similar to another all-time great; Bill Belichick. Bill has a 6-3 record as a head coach in the Superbowl, but never have the two coaches won a title in the same season of each other.
Any time that both of them made the championship in the same season, if one came away with a win, the other would end up losing. This has happened in 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In those four years, Saban and Bill both went 2-2, losing any time the other was victorious. With the way the Patriots have been playing this season, it’s possible Belichick and the Patriots continue this trend.
This is a tall task to accomplish however, no team has ever won the superbowl under a rookie quarterback. But if any coach can be the first to lead his team to a win in the big game with a rookie, it’s Bill. This Saturday, January 15th, the Patriots go up against a familiar foe in their wild card match up; the Buffalo Bills.
Despite their tough loss to Miami this past week, I expect the Patriots to show up in Buffalo with fire in their eyes. It’s not often a Bill Belichick led team has two tough outings in a row, especially when it comes to a game like this one. With a Patriots win this Saturday, they will be poised to play the winner of the Bengals vs Raiders game. If they can squeak out a win this week I believe it's entirely possible Bill can continue the “Bill and Saban curse”.
