Alabama–LSU football rivalry

Alabama–LSU football rivalry

Alabama Crimson Tide LSU Tigers
First meeting	November 18, 1895 LSU 12, Alabama 6
Latest meeting	November 7, 2015 Alabama 30, LSU 16
Next meeting	November 5, 2016
Statistics
Meetings total	80
All-time series	Alabama leads, 50–25–5 (.656)
Largest victory	Alabama, 47–3 (1922)
Longest win streak	Alabama, 11 (1971–81)
Current win streak	Alabama, 5 (2012–present)

The Alabama–LSU football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University. Both schools are charter members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and both universities' sports teams have competed in the SEC's Western Division since the conference was split into two divisions in 1992. Alabama leads the series 50–25–5.

Series history

Sideline picture of Alabama vs LSU on November 5th 2011

The series started in 1895, with a 12–6 win for LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.^[1] The rivalry has been played in Baton Rouge; New Orleans, Louisiana; Birmingham, Alabama; Montgomery, Alabama; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Mobile, Alabama.

The teams began playing each other on an annual basis in 1964, with Alabama playing its home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, and LSU playing its home games on campus at Tiger Stadium. The series has been marked by long stretches where the home team has struggled. Alabama is 25–9–2 against LSU in Baton Rouge; they went 16–1–1 from 1965–98. Alabama has gone 6–11 in games played in Alabama since 1982. LSU has gone 4-13-1 in games played in Louisiana since 1982. There have been two overtime games each in Tuscaloosa (2005, 2011) and Baton Rouge (2008, 2014) respectively; the road team has won each time. In fact, in the series history, only 42% of games have been won by the team playing in its home state (excluding ties). In 1988, Alabama began playing its home game in the series on their Tuscaloosa campus at Bryant–Denny Stadium.

While Alabama controlled most of the series' early history, the intensity and competitiveness has grown during the last three decades. Since Bear Bryant's retirement, Alabama leads the series 19–14–1. Four games in the last ten seasons have also been decided in overtime. A 2009 poll of SEC fan bases found that over 60% of LSU fans singled out Alabama as their most bitter rival.^[2]

In 2007, the meeting was even more heated following Alabama's hiring of head coach Nick Saban, who had coached LSU to a National Championship; many media outlets dubbed the 2007 meeting the "Saban Bowl."^[3][4][5] Alabama leads the series 7–3 in the games played so far during the "Saban Bowl" era.

In their 2011 regular season matchup, No. 1 LSU defeated No. 2 Alabama 9–6 in overtime at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, on November 5.^[6] Later, during the 2011 post season, the two were selected by the Bowl Championship Series ^[7] to play each other again in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, which was the first time since 1986 that the two teams played in a location other than Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa. Alabama won the game 21–0. The rematch was the first BCS Championship Game to feature two teams from the same conference (as well as the same division), and was also the first shutout of any BCS bowl game in the BCS's 14-year history.

Game results

Alabama victories

LSU victories

Ties

# Date Location Winner Score 1 November 18, 1895 Baton Rouge, LA LSU 12–6 2 November 29, 1902 Tuscaloosa, AL LSU 11–0 3 November 9, 1903 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 18–0 4 December 2, 1904 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 11–0 5 November 2, 1907 Mobile, AL Alabama 6–4 6 November 25, 1909 Birmingham, AL LSU 12–6 7 November 15, 1919 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 23–7 8 November 11, 1920 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 21–0 9 October 29, 1921 New Orleans, LA Tie 7–7 10 November 10, 1922 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 47–3 11 November 16, 1923 Montgomery, AL Alabama 30–3 12 October 10, 1925 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 42–0 13 October 30, 1926 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 24–0 14 October 8, 1927 Birmingham, AL Tie 0–0 15 December 8, 1928 Birmingham, AL Alabama 31–0 16 November 15, 1930 Montgomery, AL Alabama 33–0 17 September 30, 1944 Baton Rouge, LA Tie 27–27 18 October 6, 1945 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 26–7 19 November 9, 1946 Baton Rouge, LA #19 LSU 31–21 20 November 22, 1947 Tuscaloosa, AL #8 Alabama 41–12 21 November 20, 1948 Baton Rouge, LA LSU 26–6 22 September 29, 1951 Tuscaloosa, AL LSU 13–7 23 September 27, 1952 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 21–20 24 September 26, 1953 Mobile, AL Tie 7–7 25 September 25, 1954 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 12–0 26 September 28, 1957 Baton Rouge, LA LSU 28–0 27 September 27, 1958 Mobile, AL #15 LSU 13–3 28 November 7, 1964 Birmingham, AL #3 Alabama 17–9 29 November 6, 1965 Baton Rouge, LA #5 Alabama 31–7 30 November 5, 1966 Birmingham, AL #4 Alabama 21–0 31 November 11, 1967 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 7–6 32 November 9, 1968 Birmingham, AL Alabama 16–7 33 November 8, 1969 Baton Rouge, LA #12 LSU 20–15 34 November 7, 1970 Birmingham, AL #11 LSU 14–9 35 November 6, 1971 Baton Rouge, LA #4 Alabama 14–7 36 November 11, 1972 Birmingham, AL #2 Alabama 35–21 37 November 22, 1973 Baton Rouge, LA #2 Alabama 21–7 38 November 9, 1974 Birmingham, AL #3 Alabama 30–0 39 November 9, 1975 Baton Rouge, LA #5 Alabama 23–10 40 November 6, 1976 Birmingham, AL #15 Alabama 28–17 41 November 5, 1977 Baton Rouge, LA #2 Alabama 24–3 # Date Location Winner Score 42 November 11, 1978 Birmingham, AL #3 Alabama 31–10 43 November 10, 1979 Baton Rouge, LA #1 Alabama 3–0 44 November 8, 1980 Tuscaloosa, AL #6 Alabama 28–7 45 September 5, 1981 Baton Rouge, LA #4 Alabama 24–7 46 November 6, 1982 Birmingham, AL #11 LSU 20–10 47 November 5, 1983 Baton Rouge, LA #19 Alabama 32–26 48 November 10, 1984 Birmingham, AL #12 LSU 16–14 49 November 9, 1985 Baton Rouge, LA Tie 14–14 50 November 8, 1986 Birmingham, AL #18 LSU 14–10 51 November 7, 1987 Baton Rouge, LA #13 Alabama 22–10 52 November 5, 1988 Tuscaloosa, AL #13 LSU 19–18 53 November 11, 1989 Baton Rouge, LA #4 Alabama 32–16 54 November 10, 1990 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 24–3 55 November 9, 1991 Baton Rouge, LA #8 Alabama 20–17 56 November 7, 1992 Baton Rouge, LA #3 Alabama 31–11 57 November 6, 1993 Tuscaloosa, AL LSU 17–13 58 November 5, 1994 Baton Rouge, LA #6 Alabama 35–17 59 November 4, 1995 Tuscaloosa, AL #16 Alabama 10–3 60 November 9, 1996 Baton Rouge, LA #10 Alabama 26–0 61 November 8, 1997 Tuscaloosa, AL #14 LSU 27–0 62 November 7, 1998 Baton Rouge, LA Alabama 22–16 63 November 6, 1999 Tuscaloosa, AL #12 Alabama 23–17 64 November 4, 2000 Baton Rouge, LA LSU 30–28 65 November 3, 2001 Tuscaloosa, AL LSU 35–21 66 November 16, 2002 Baton Rouge, LA #10 Alabama 31–0 67 November 15, 2003 Tuscaloosa, AL #3 LSU 27–3 68 November 13, 2004 Baton Rouge, LA #17 LSU 26–10 69 November 12, 2005 Tuscaloosa, AL #5 LSU 16–13^OT 70 November 11, 2006 Baton Rouge, LA #12 LSU 28–14 71 November 3, 2007 Tuscaloosa, AL #3 LSU 41–34 72 November 8, 2008 Baton Rouge, LA #1 Alabama 27–21^OT 73 November 7, 2009 Tuscaloosa, AL #3 Alabama 24–15 74 November 6, 2010 Baton Rouge, LA #5 LSU 24–21 75 November 5, 2011 Tuscaloosa, AL #1 LSU 9–6^OT 76 January 9, 2012 New Orleans, LA #2 Alabama 21–0 77 November 3, 2012 Baton Rouge, LA #1 Alabama 21–17 78 November 9, 2013 Tuscaloosa, AL #1 Alabama 38–17 79 November 8, 2014 Baton Rouge, LA #5 Alabama 20–13^OT 80 November 7, 2015 Tuscaloosa, AL #4 Alabama 30–16 Series: Alabama leads 50–25–5

Series record sources: 2011 Alabama Football Media Guide,^[8] 2011 LSU Football Media Guide,^[9] and College Football Data Warehouse.^[10]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "The Record Book" (PDF). University of Alabama Athletics. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
2. "2009 Fan Survey Results for SEC". CNN.
3. Carlton, Chuck (2007-11-02). "LSU, Alabama to meet in first Saban Bowl". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
4. "Bayou, LSU fans brace for Nick Saban Bowl". New York Daily News. 2007-11-01. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
5. "It's Saban Bowl for riled LSU fans". The Seattle Times. 2007-11-01. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
6. "LSU Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide - Recap - November 5, 2011".
7. Prisbell, Eric (December 5, 2011). "BCS: LSU, Alabama get rematch in title game over Oklahoma State". The Washington Post.
8. 2011 Alabama Football Media Guide, University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, pp. 176–195 (2011). Retrieved December 1, 2011.
9. 2011 LSU Football Media Guide, LSU Athletic Department, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 153–163 (2011). Retrieved November 23, 2011.
10. College Football Data Warehouse, Alabama vs Louisiana State. Retrieved December 1, 2011.