It must have been the 90s because I don't think Bama was on probation in the 80s. They've been on probation so often, though, that I can't keep up with when they were and weren't. I was curious enough to see how close my memory was, so I researched it. It was actually 1979, and it was Auburn, not Alabama, that was on probation. Going into the last week of the season Alabama was 5-0 in the SEC, Georgia had completed its conference season at 5-1, and Auburn was 4-1. Georgia was 5-5 overall, with their final game against Georgia Tech. Alabama played Auburn. If Auburn won all three teams would have tied at 5-1 in the SEC, but Auburn's postseason ban would have reduced it to an Alabama-Georgia tie. Alabama and Georgia didn't play each other that year, and whatever the relevant tie-breaker was (possibly the team that had won the conference least recently; that was a common tie-breaker in that era) would have favored Georgia. So if Alabama and Georgia had both lost Georgia would have been the conference champion but with a 5-6 overall record. However, Alabama and Georgia both won. Alabama then beat Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl to complete a 12-0 season and won the national championship according to both major polls; Georgia didn't play in a bowl game (back then there were many fewer bowl games and 6-5 teams stayed home).