Nick Saban Named One College Football Powerhouse’s Archenemy After Dominant Record

ESPN's Power 4 archenemy list landed on the coach who delivered a national title one year and then went 13-5 against them to close our a legendary career

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach and ESPN College GameDay analyst Nick Saban was named the archenemy of this SEC program by ESPN's Dave Wilson. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ESPN published its college football archenemy list for every Power 4 team on Friday. For LSU, the pick was Nick Saban. He coached the Tigers for five seasons and won the school its first national title since 1958. Then he took an NFL job.

He returned to college football at Alabama in 2007, and spent the next 17 years beating LSU. Saban holds more national championships than any coach in FBS history, and several of them came at LSU's expense.

So what this list might be saying is that if Saban turns up missing, start the search in Baton Rouge!

Nick Saban's record against LSU as Alabama's coach

Saban went 13-5 against LSU in 18 meetings while coaching Alabama. Les Miles, his replacement in Baton Rouge, won the first one 41-34 in Tuscaloosa in 2007. LSU beat him again in Baton Rouge in 2010. Then the Tigers won 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa in 2011, in a matchup between the top two teams in the country.

The rematch went the other way. Alabama shut out LSU 21-0 in the BCS title game in January 2012. That win started an eight-game streak in the series. Alabama beat the Tigers every season from that night through 2018.

LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly and Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban talk together at midfield. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

LSU stopped the streak in 2019 with a 46-41 win at Alabama. But the Crimson Tide won 55-17 the next season. Amite, Louisiana, native DeVonta Smith caught three touchdown passes and gained 231 yards in that game. Smith won the Heisman Trophy a month later, and he had chosen Alabama over LSU as a recruit.

LSU picked up one more win, 32-31 in overtime in Baton Rouge in 2022. Saban then closed out his time in the series with a 48-28 win in Tuscaloosa in 2023. Alabama leads the all-time series 58-27-5.

Nick Saban's LSU tenure

LSU hired the Fairmont, West Virginia, native away from Michigan State in late 1999. The Tigers had just fired Gerry DiNardo during a 3-8 season. Saban went 48-16 over five years in Baton Rouge. He won SEC titles in 2001 and 2003. He also beat Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl for the 2003 BCS national championship.

His LSU staff included offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. He went 4-1 against Alabama during those years, with his only loss coming 31-0 at home in 2002. He also recruited most of the roster that won LSU another national title under Miles in 2007.

Saban accepted the Miami Dolphins job on Christmas Day in 2004. He went 15-17 in two seasons there. He took the Alabama job in January 2007 and stayed until he retired.

Nick Saban, in purple, and Chad Lavalais (#93) lifts the BCS National Championship Trophy after the Tigers' 21-14 victory over Oklahoma in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The rest of his career happened in Tuscaloosa. Saban went 201-29 at Alabama with six national championships and eight SEC titles. His full college record is 297-71-1 across Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama. He coached one season at Toledo in 1990 and went 9-2. He spent five years at Michigan State and went 34-24-1.

Louisiana has not written him off completely. Saban was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2020, so that must count for something.

Other longtime LSU rivals and villains

For those who need a little history lesson on some of the Tigers' older rivals... What we're gonna do right here is go back. Way back... Back into time.

Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning topped the list for an older generation of Tigers fans. He beat LSU 26-23 in Jackson in 1969, and that was the only loss of the Tigers' season. LSU answered with a 61-17 win in Baton Rouge in 1970. "Go to h***, Ole Miss!" is and was the popular cheer and I have a feeling we'll be hearing that one a lot in the coming years.

Paul William ‘Bear’ Bryant | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bear Bryant did his fair share of tormenting Tigers fans. His teams won 11 straight over LSU from 1971 through 1981, and the streak ended in his final season.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville added a newer grudge. His players smoked cigars on the field after a 41-7 win in Baton Rouge in September 1999.

Tulane was LSU's main in-state rival for decades. LSU has won 18 straight in that series and leads it 69-22-7. The two schools last played in 2009, and they are scheduled to meet again in Baton Rouge in 2030.