Nick Saban was gracious. He was complimentary. He was flat-out classy after losing to Georgia in Monday night’s national championship game.

It helps when you already have won seven championships and the opposing coach is a former assistant and friend. You know what else helps? Knowing you have the runaway favorite to win it all next year.

Saban returns the projected top two players in the country: Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr., the nation’s sack-leader. They are the very early favorites to go Nos. 1 and 2 in the 2023 NFL Draft. And the future Sunday stars are far from alone.

Alabama has added two key transfers in versatile Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs and LSU cornerback Eli Ricks, a third-team Associated Press All-American in 2020 who only played in six games this season due to a shoulder injury. The combination of Anderson and freshman Dallas Turner as edge rushers will be flat-out scary. The duo combined for 26 sacks this year.

Expect Young to be even better with a full season under his belt, and for Saban to add some experience at receiver to mitigate the losses of top wideouts John Metchie III and Jameson Williams.

Young became one of college football’s big stars this year, an elite recruit who surpassed the incredible hype that surrounded him with a fantastic season. Even more will be on his plate this year, as he looks to become the second repeat Heisman Trophy winner following Ohio State’s Archie Griffin in 1974-75. In his first year as a starter, Young led Alabama to the title game while throwing for 4,872 yards, 47 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

He struggled on Monday, throwing his only multiple-interception game of his career. The absence of Metchie and Williams clearly was a factor as Young went up against the nation’s premier defense. There will be a bull’s-eye on his back next season, as he tries to make history. Nine Heisman winners have returned attempting to repeat since Griffin, and five of them finished in the top three the following year. The last such player was Florida’s Tim Tebow in 2007-08.

Alabama, Cincinnati and Georgia significantly benefited from key transfers this year, and already a number of schools have dipped into the transfer market. Quarterbacks Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma to South Carolina), Dillon Gabriel (Central Florida to Oklahoma) and Kedon Slovis (USC to Pittsburgh) have all found new homes, to name a few. The biggest name — Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams — is still out there, and more major players will no doubt enter into the mix. The smart money is on the uber-talented Williams landing at USC with former coach Lincoln Riley, particularly after prized freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart recently entered the portal. This has become almost as important as high school recruiting. It’s certainly a faster way for power-conference schools to rebuild.

Georgia’s national championship wasn’t just about this year. It was the culmination of what Kirby Smart has done since arriving in Athens in 2016. Two trips to the title game. Four SEC East crowns. Seven first-round draft picks. Five top-four recruiting classes, and his 2022 group is ranked third by 247Sports.com.

This doesn’t feel like an anomaly. There is some Dabo Swinney/Clemson narrative-changing at work here. Remember, Clemson was always known for coming up short before finally breaking through to win it all in 2016. The same can be said about the Bulldogs.

So while they will lose a ton, particularly off the top-ranked defense — defensive tackle Jordan Davis, linebackers Nakobe Dean and Channing Tindall and cornerback Derion Kendrick are all expected to move on to the next level — there are former five-star prospects waiting in the wings. Smart will reload, not rebuild. Georgia will be in the playoff mix on an annual basis.

Jim Harbaugh and Michigan finally broke through, winning the Big Ten for the first time in 17 years and reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time. Almost immediately after the Wolverines were blown away in the Orange Bowl by eventual national-champion Georgia, however, reports began to leak that Harbaugh would at least listen to NFL suitors.

After taking a pay cut last year, this could be a ploy by the Michigan man to get a raise. Or, maybe he thinks this is the best he can do in Ann Arbor, and going out a winner interests him. Either way, it will be an offseason of change. Star pass-rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo are off to the NFL, and so is leading rusher Hassan Haskins. Then, there is the looming battle at quarterback between the experienced Cade McNamara and former five-star recruit J.J. McCarthy. Plenty of questions have to be answered for a program that returned to the national spotlight this year.