At the top of any subjective list of teams that have dominated college football for the better half of the 21st century, it would be hard to go against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Not that Alabama football has always been good since the dawn of the new millennium. From 2000-2006, the Crimson Tide suffered three losing seasons and shuffled through four head coaches, including one who never actually coached an official game. That's why Ohio State is the winningest overall program of the past 26 years.
Then came Nick Saban's coaching move heard round the football world when the man who turned LSU from perennial mediocrity into a national champion stunned the almighty NFL by spurning the Miami Dolphins to return to college ball in Tuscaloosa in January
2007.
Alabama is six national championships richer than it was before Saban's arrival.
With that success came truly elite players, so it's no surprise that only two other college football programs stack up with Alabama for the most players on USA TODAY Sports' 2026 All-2000s Team.
Alabama and the Miami Hurricanes led the way with three first-team selections. The Crimson Tide are Oklahoma Sooners had the most players overall with five apiece.
Star receiver leads Alabama players on All-2000s Team
On offense, wide receiver DeVonta Smith and offensive guard Barrett Jones were the Crimson Tide's two first-team selections to USA TODAY Sports' all-century team.
Smith is Alabama's all-time leading receiver with 3,965 yards and 46 touchdown, eclipsing Amari Cooper's previous record of 3,463 yards and 31 scores. Smith was the program's third of four Heisman Trophies winners under Saban.
Paul Myerberg, Eddie Timanus and Craig Meyer, who authored the list for USA TODAY, said of Smith:
"As a freshman, Smith was on the receiving end of Tua Tagovailoa's title-winning pass in the 2018 College Football Playoff championship game. By the time he was a senior, he finished with 1,856 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns -- both of which rank him in the top 10 all-time in the FBS in a season -- for a dominant Alabama team that gave Nick Saban his final national championship. That season, he became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since 1991."
As for Jones, who started 50 games at Alabama between 2008-12:
"Jones won three national championships with the Crimson Tide and a long list of postseason accolades. In addition to earning first-team All-SEC honors three times, Jones won the Outland Trophy as a junior left tackle and then the Rimington Trophy as a center the next year, becoming the first and still only player in college football history to win both awards at two positions."
Elite Crimson Tide pass rusher part of all-century team
Alabama's only first-team defensive selection was linebacker Will Anderson Jr., part of the Tide's 2020 national championship team and later a first-round NFL draft pick by the Houston Texans.
"An outside linebacker that also played at the line of scrimmage, Anderson crammed 62 tackles for loss and 34½ sacks into three seasons at Alabama, helping the Tide win one national championship in 2020 and play for another the following season. He was a two-time SEC defensive player of the year and twice won the Nagurski Award. Anderson finished fifth for the Heisman Trophy in as a sophomore then captured the Bednarik Award and Lombardi Award as a junior."
Where Derrick Henry, other Alabama football greats landed on USA TODAY All-2000s Team
Henry, who left Alabama as the school's all-time leading rusher following a workhorse 2015 season that earned him the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, was a second-team selection. Henry's career 3,591 yards and 42 touchdowns were eclipsed by Najee Harris (3,843 yards, 46 touchdowns) in 2020.
Offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, the Outland Trophy winner in 2020, was also a second-team selection after spending four seasons at Alabama.
The five total Alabama players on USA TODAY Sports' All-2000s Team are tied with Oklahoma for the most of any college football program. LSU and Miami were second with four apiece.
Contact us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: These Alabama football legends named to USA TODAY Sports All-2000s Team
