One of the biggest annual heavyweight fights in college football will take place under the lights on Saturday as the No. 14 LSU Tigers head to Tuscaloosa to meet the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide at 7:45 p.m. ET on CBS.
The yearly early November clash between these two SEC West juggernauts always has a big-fight feel, with the most talented players of the sport lining both rosters. This rivalry has had major SEC/national title implications in recent decades as one man has unlocked the sky-high potential of both programs.
Below, we’ll dive into the history of Bama vs. LSU.
History of Alabama vs. LSU
Total games played: 87
Record: Alabama leads 55-27-5
First game: November 18, 1895, LSU wins 12-6 in Baton Rouge
Last game: November 2, 2022, LSU wins 32-31 in Baton Rouge
Alabama and LSU first met in 1895, just a few years after both southern universities started their respective football programs. They’d split the first six games of the series, but fortunes would turn towards the Crimson Tide’s favor. As Alabama established itself as a national power in the 1920’s, it dominated LSU with an 8-0-2 record from 1919-1930. Even as both programs joined the newly formed Southeastern Conference as founding members in 1933, they wouldn’t play each other again until 1944.
LSU would finally get back on the board in the rivalry with a 31-21 victory in 1946 and the rivalry would be on more equal footing into the 1950’s as Alabama began to fade in national relevance. Opening their 1958 national championship, Paul Dietzel and his LSU team would defeat Alabama 13-3 in Mobile. That game marked the debut of Crimson Tide head coach Bear Bryant, who had returned to his alma mater to turn things around.
After a brief hiatus, the rivalry returned in 1964 and became a yearly game until present day. By then, Bryant had firmly re-established Alabama as a juggernaut and he’d run roughshod over LSU and head coach Charles McClendon year-after-year. The Crimson Tide dominated the Tigers from 1964-1981, posting a 16-2 record during that span.
LSU was able to get one final shot in on the Bear during his final season in 1982, taking Bama down in a 20-10 victory in Birmingham. The Tigers would post a 3-1-1 record in he immediate aftermath of Bryant’s retirement/subsequent death before the Crimson Tide once again asserted their dominance over their counterparts from Baton Rouge. The Tide would post a 9-2 record in the rivalry from 1989-1999 as the Tigers sunk into irrelevance throughout the 1990’s. It was at that point where they’d introduce the most important figure of the rivalry’s history.
LSU hired Nick Saban as its new head coach in 2000 and as he led a quick turnaround of the program, he knocked off Alabama in his first two seasons. After being blanked in an embarrassing 31-0 home loss in 2002, Saban and his Tigers would wreck the Tide 27-3 in 2003 en route to winning the program’s second national championship. Saban’s last game on the LSU side of the rivalry came in 2004, when his Tigers clamped the Tide in a 26-10 victory at home.
Following Saban’s departure to the Miami Dolphins in 2005, new LSU head coach Les Miles picked up where his predecessor left off by beating the Tide in his first two seasons at the helm. With Alabama struggling during the Mike Shula era in the mid-2000’s, they turned to a former conference nemesis to lead the program back to glory…former LSU head coach Nick Saban.
The first Saban Bowl took place towards the end of LSU’s national championship season in 2007, a 41-34 victory for the Tigers in Tuscaloosa where Jacob Hester punched in the go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute left. Saban would make his highly anticipated return to Tiger Stadium in 2008, edging his former team in a 27-21 overtime victory. The aura of that contest created the modern “big fight” feel that Alabama-LSU games carry to this day and it was also where Saban made his famous “MAKE HIS ASS QUIT” pregame speech.Alabama would down LSU 24-15 in 2009 en route to Saban’s first national title in Tuscaloosa. Miles and LSU would then strike back with a 24-21 victory in Baton Rouge the following year.
Then came 2011 with two of the most important games in the series history. With both teams undefeated and ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the BCS poll, their regular season showdown in Tuscaloosa on November 9 earned a “Game of the Century” designation. With 45 future NFL players on the field, that game turned into a defensive war and LSU was able to escape Bryant-Denny Stadium with a 9-6 victory. Just over two months later, both teams would be paired against each other in the 2013 BCS title game in New Orleans. Preventing the Tigers from crossing the 50 for the entire game, the Crimson Tide shut them out 21-0 to claim Saban’s second national title with the program and denying the Tyrann Mathieu-led LSU a natty of their own. This all-SEC title game that ended up being a sloppy, defensive struggle effectively served as the final straw for the BCS, and the College Football Playoff was introduced a few seasons later.
That game created a psychological shift in the rivalry for the rest of the 2010’s, as the Crimson Tide routinely put down the Tigers as Saban established his dynasty in Tuscaloosa. However, the stars finally aligned for Ed Orgeron’s LSU team in 2019. With Joe Burrow operating one of the greatest offenses in college football history, they went into Tuscaloosa for another “Game of the Century” battle between the two rivals and won an exciting 46-41 shootout. That ended LSU’s eight-game losing streak against Alabama and added fuel to that team eventually winning the College Football Playoff title.
However, the Orgeron era would quickly flame out for LSU and the Tide picked up back-to-back victories in 2020 and 2021. With former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly now in charge in Baton Rouge, Jayden Daniels and the Tigers would take down Bryce Young’s Crimson Tide with a 32-31 overtime victory in 2022.
Biggest game in series history: 2019
It was the second Game of the Century in that decade for Alabama and LSU, meeting as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in Tuscaloosa with Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow at the helms of their respective teams. The 2011 Game of the Century felt like somewhat of a letdown, with no touchdowns scored and a final of 9-6, but this was different — a 46-41 shootout on LSU’s meteoric rise to a national championship also marked the only year Alabama has ever been left out of the college football playoff since its inception. This win for the Tigers ended an eight-game losing streak to Alabama.
Most important player in series history: Joe Burrow
Sure, it might be the recency bias talking, but Burrow is written into LSU legend for that game against Alabama. Breaking an eight-year losing streak that began when Alabama beat LSU in the 2011 national championship game, Burrow broke the record that day in 2019 for the most points scored against a Nick Saban-led Alabama defense.
Odds for 2023 via DraftKings Sportsbook
Spread: Alabama -3
Total: 61.5
Moneyline: Alabama -162, LSU +136