Would have liked to see a Pete Carroll USC semipro team vs a Saban football clone Alabama team. I liked it when Utah kicked the garbanzos outta Alabama a few years ago. And I loved it when Alabama startled Miami in that game more than a few years back. I love to see very good, disciplined, sound but unrespected teams bowl over the consensus “great” teams...
That game meant very little. Alabama was one quarter away from the BCS national championship game that year, Saban's second year at Bama. They lost to Florida in the fourth quarter of the SEC championship game.
Bama teams aren't going to be very motivated or sharp when they fall short of the playoffs. The same for Auburn last year when they were one game away from the playoffs, and then lost to Georgia in the SEC championship, and later lost to UCF in a bowl game.
Teams that have been highly ranked often and who have won national championships will not perform too well in ordinary bowl games after coming close to making the playoffs.