Fair or not, comparing sports over different eras is as common as baseball doubleheaders.

All NBA season, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have been compared to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls of 1995-96 as the Warriors set the single-season mark for wins.

When it comes to college football in Alabama, the debate - again, fair or not - is which coach has had the more impressive run as the head of the Crimson Tide: Nick Saban or Paul "Bear" Bryant.

Former Florida State coach and Alabama native Bobby Bowden took a shot tackling the topic on Tuesday.

"That's a pretty good question," Bowden told WNSP-FM 105.5 in Mobile, Alabama. "I'd say probably what Nick Saban is doing (is more impressive) because football is more balanced now. I think when coach Bryant came to Alabama in 1958, I think it was unlimited recruiting. You could sign all the kids you wanted, and he's gonna get most of them.

"There was an old saying back in those days, 'He's gonna get his and he's gonna get yours.'"

The numbers for both coaches are staggering.

Bryant won at least a portion of 13 SEC championships, three national Coach of the Year awards and a record six national titles. He has 323 victories, 232 of them at Alabama.

Meanwhile, Saban, who has been at Alabama since 2007, has a higher winning percentage than Bryant (.854 to .824).

Saban has won five national titles, which includes one at a second school.

There is also the debate over whether the competition and hurdles to get to the postseason are tougher now for Saban - and college football - than for Bryant.

Two of Bryant's championships (1965, '78) were shared, compared to one for Saban. And two of Bryant's titles ('64, '73) were marred by bowl losses, which would exclude a team from national honors under the current system.

Bowden points to parity in college football in regards to scholarship limitations, but schools like Alabama still have the edge, he says.

"There are jobs in the United States, you know, especially being right there in Alabama, there are not too many jobs in the country better than Alabama and Auburn across the nation," Bowden explained. "There's a parity in numbers in numbers. Still, the traditional schools have the upper hand, in my opinion."

For the record, he doesn't include Florida State in the group of "traditional" schools, and is also quick to point out there is one thing more important to a program than a coach.

"My theory in coaching was very simple," he said, "and I still think it is true today. I think it was true back when football started. 'He who gets the best players in gonna win.' ... There's one factor that can change that. A coach can mess that up."