Daily Dose of of Crimson Tide: Winning Streaks

Although a 10-win season isn’t all that rare at Alabama and any more — it’s been done 40 times, including each year since 2008 — a 10-game winning streak is more difficult to come by, especially because for most of college football history the seasons were shorter and games could end in a tie.

Through 2019, the Crimson Tide has enjoyed 27 winning streaks of 10 games or more (which is a little surprising considering that Alabama claims 17 national titles) — a mark that no other Southeastern Conference team is near.

The program’s longest winning streak is 28 games, which has been accomplished twice …sort of.

The first was from 1978 to 1980, under the direction of Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, who also led winning streaks of 19, 17, 12, and 11 victories.

“Winning isn’t everything, but it sure beats coming in second,” Bryant once said.

The string began on September 30, with a 51–28 victory against Vanderbilt in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide ran the table to win the national championship and did it again in 1979 to defend its title.

It didn’t lose until November 1, 1980, a 6–3 road defeat by Mississippi State, which still considers it one of the greatest victories in its history.

Alabama finished 10–2 and had to “settle” for the Cotton Bowl and a No. 6 final ranking.

Alabama arguably topped that in 1991–93, with a 28-game winning streak and 31-game unbeaten streak, although the National Collegiate Athletic Association later ordered the Tide to forfeit games from the 1993 season due to an ineligible player.

Under the direction of Gene Stallings, win number one came September 21, 1991, a 10–0 victory against Georgia in Tuscaloosa. Thanks to numerous close, last-minute wins, including Tennessee and Auburn at Legion Field, Alabama won 10 straight games to finish the season 11–1.

The Tide came back to secure the 1992 national championship, and kept winning until October 16, 1993, when Tennessee managed a 17–17 tie in Birmingham. Three week later, LSU pulled out a 17–13 victory at Tuscaloosa.

Strangely enough, three of Alabama’s longest winning streaks began with a victory against Georgia, including wins in 1924 (20-game winning streak), 1961 (19-game winning streak, 26-game unbeaten streak), and 1991 (28-game winning streak, 31-game unbeaten streak). Also, Georgia’s 1920 win over

Alabama snapped the Crimson Tide’s then-school record 12-game winning streak.

“When I came back to Alabama in 1990, we lost a really tough game in Athens [17–16] and won a defensive struggle in ’91 [10–0],” Mal Moore said. “Most of the games with Georgia have been hard-hitting, tough games.”

Of course, there have been other streaks in Crimson Tide history, most notably the NCAA record 57-game home winning streak from 1963 to 1982. Miami has since topped that with a 58-game home winning streak, but the Hurricanes’ mark also includes three wins in the postseason at the Orange Bowl. All of Alabama’s wins were during the regular season.

Incidentally, the 57-game string is one of 10 winning streaks 15 games or longer for the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. Alabama’s string of 27 conference victories from 1976 to 1980 is an SEC record, and only one other conference school has enjoyed a winning streak longer than 20 games (Tennessee with 23 from 1937 to 1939).

Finally, Alabama once enjoyed a 42-game unbeaten streak in season openers, which included a 30-game winning streak that extended from 1904 to 1934, and has the longest winning streak in Auburn series, nine (1973–81).

As for winning streaks during the Nick Saban era:

• Wins: 26. It extended from the Louisiana-Monroe win in 2014 to the win over Washington in the College Football Playoff.

• Home wins: 31. From the same ULM victory, Alabama didn't lose at Bryant-Denny Stadium again until facing LSU last season.

• Longest road winning streak: 15. From the 2015 season opener against Wisconsin, didn't lose away from home again until the 2016 national title game, the last-second loss vs. Clemson.

• SEC games: 22. The string went from the win at Georgia in 2015 to the Auburn loss in 2017.

• Tennessee: Alabama has won 13 straight against the Volunteers, the longest streak in the Third Saturday in October rivalry. It dates back to Oct. 21, 2006.

That's a span of 4,924 days. It'll hit 5,000 days on June 29.

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books