Saban certainly wasn't crazy.
More accurately, Saban was clear about what he was doing, and it was the result of careful calculation and mature deliberation—
Overtime games were disadvantageous for the Crimson Tide Storm.
Everyone knew that football's golden-goal sudden death was extremely harsh and unreasonable, prompting many controversies, and was officially abolished in 2004; in fact, the overtime rule in football was even more ruthless.
In a football game, if both sides end the regular game in a tie, then they enter overtime, which consists of two fifteen-minute halves.
In overtime, if one team reaches the end zone first, then they win the game outright, just like in football's sudden-death system; if one team kicks a field goal first, then the other team still has a chance to win on offense, and here lie three possibilities:
First, if they reach the end zone, then they win immediately, sudden death style.
