Is Alabama the best team you've seen play Michigan?

Yes.

I do not think that Alabama had the best set of skill position players that I have seen Michigan play in 25 years, but they did have the best offensive and defensive lines.

If ever there were a game that proved the concept that football is won in the trenches, this was the game.

Three from my lifetime that stick out are the 91 Florida State team, 95 Ohio State, and 03 USC. Too hard to really compare given how far apart they are on terms of time.

2002 Citrus vs. Tennessee was a worse beatdown than 1991 FSU, but the FSU game is the one that that I always remember as the day Michigan was completely outclassed.

Defensively, it is Alabama.  But as a whole it was that 1991 FSU team.  Although, they threw some gimmick plays in there.  They had so much speed and we looked much slower, but we were out physicaled.  Bama just looked like a NFL team and we were a good college team. 

But I've only really started paying attention in the early 90's.

across eras, but I think this team (and maybe last year's Bama squad) could compete with the best teams from any era.  The athleticism of their defense (from the big men up front to the secondary) is incredible, and their big ugglies on offense are all very, very good, with a few being all-american candidates.  The team may be lacking on big play ability in the passing game (when going up against guys not named Avery), but McCarron is a very solid QB who kept their offense humming.  Not to mention their three headed moster at RB.

I like the comparison to the '03 USC team, a squad that was very balanced on both sides.

Yes, these guys are very, very good, and we'll see how the rest of the SEC matches up to them this year.  This past weekend, IMO, showed more of how good Alabama was rather than what state our team is in (which is better than average B1G, nowhere near nationally elite).

I think this Alabama team is indeed the best one.  The 1991 FSU team is probably #2.  A few others some others (not mentioned yet) that might come close are 1994 Penn State, 1991 Washington, and 2001 Tennessee.  SUNY-Columbus has also had a number of teams that might qualify.

Alabama is a really good team this year (and last) however I believe some Michigan teams in the past could take them like the 97 squad.

The 97 squad had a better defense - Steel, Sword, Woodson, Hendricks, Hall, Jones, Peterson, Gold were all NFLers.

I would have said no, because last year I thought Bama's offense was so-so. I still think it is not the level of USC 2006, but that defense .... woah. Those guys came in like it was Tuesday at the office, and just executed with very few mistakes. They clearly did not overlook us, and Nick Saban put a heck of a gameplan together.

To me the funny thing is the all so polite fans were taunting us with S-E-C, S-E-C, when I think they should just be shout ROLL TIDE, or ALABAMA. Most of the SEC looks good but flawed and therefore beatable with a decent game plan and execution. Alabama was impressive.

It will be interesting to see if a team like USC can keep it close, cause some mistakes and beat Alabama. But they don't have the dual threat at QB. If our offense had more game time under their belts, and Denard could connect on more of his passes / Devin could haul them in, it would have opened the game up more. Enough? Not without a similar near flawless game by our defense.

Bottom line: end of season (with the injury caveat), this game looks different and we at least feel better coming out of it. After playing a few warm ups, maybe a little better. We just weren't ready, because practicing against each other, is nothing like playing a hard hitting team at full speed. I am glad by the way that the coaching staff "blooded" some of the Freshment. They will remember that experience and draw on it down the road.

So, long story short, this is the best team, that was fully prepared, we have come up against in a long time. (I think the '69 Buckeyes did not mentally prepare like Bama did. I also think the 2006 Wolverines did not mentally prepare for USC like Bama did.)

FSU was dominant

The first Rose Bowl vs Washington in 91, I think

This Bama game

And Syracuse in 98. That was one of the worst games I ever witnessed at Michigan Stadium

I remember that game well because we got absolutely smoked  -- at the Big House, no less. It was another game that felt "over" before most people had even found their seats. 

As it turned out, we had a pretty good season in '91, FSU notwithstanding. That's why I'm not yet particularly worried about Team 133. Now, if AFA gives us trouble (if it's even all that "close" regardless of the scoreboard) then I might feel a bit more uncomfortable than I do right now.

That 1998 Syracuse team went 8-4, I believe.  They matched up well against Michigan during our Jim Hermann-doesn't-worry-about-mobile-QBs phase and caught us during our national championship hangover, but I don't think they merit consideration as one of our greatest all-time opponents.

I was at the Big House as a flabbergasted UM undergrad.   They beat us good at home, and we were a quality team.   Terrell Buckley INT returned for an early pick 6 set the tone for this game.

Some interesting tidbits about this game:

(1)  We played HOME against Florida St.  We never traveled to Tallahassee to reciprocate, at least to my knowledge.   This was a bygone era of being able to draw big-time non-conference opponents without having to play at a neutral site or sign up for a home & home series.   Strange.

(2)  WHY, CANHAM/SCHEMBECHLER/WEIDENBACH (don't know what AD of this era scheduled the game!) DID YOU SCHEDULE THIS GAME AGAINST A VASTLY SUPERIOR TEAM?  

I may correct myself to say 'Bama '12 >> FSU '91...we'll see how the season shakes out.   Washington '91 was also a phenomenal opponent on both sides of the ball.

This is the biggest discrepancy between a Michigan team and an oppenent when it comes to talent, speed, strength, size and youth.

Other teams mentioned were extrememly talented and a case can be made for all of them but we were much more physical of a team.

Yes, FSU had stallions vs our plow horses but they didn't beat us up like Bama did.  

At the top, I have to put the 1975-76 Oklahoma team that we played in the Orange Bowl.  We were ranked #4 and OK was #2 at 10-1.  Their defense was the best I have seen to this day.  The Alabama team has more offensive weapons than did Oklahoma, but overall toughness goes to the old guys.

As a point of perspective, Michigan had 33 yards passing while Oklahoma had 66.  Rick Leach was 2-16 passing and his two completions were for 17 and 16 yards.  Apparently our passing philosophy hasn't changed in 40 years - chuck it up!

The Oklahoma Boomer Sooner chants were no where near as annoying as Roll Tide however.