Alabama Vs. LSU: A Rivalry Renewed This Saturday

The latest installment in one of college football's most intense rivalries arrives on Saturday. No. 8 Alabama (7-1) hosts No. 14 LSU (6-2) at 7:45 p.m. ET inside a sold-out Bryant-Denny Stadium. ESPN's College GameDay pregame show will be on location, while the game will air on CBS. Plenty of viewers are expected to tune in for a game that will have implications on not only the SEC West but on the College Football Playoff race.

But that has come to be expected in this series. It will be the 88th meeting between the conference foes, though the magnitude of the rivalry has undoubtedly heated up since Nick Saban took over as Alabama's head coach. This rivalry isn't just about wins and losses; it's about pride, tradition, and the quest for supremacy in one of the most competitive conferences in college football.

As we delve deeper into this matchup, we will explore the historical context of the rivalry and examine how Alabama has fared against LSU under the leadership of Nick Saban. Fans and analysts alike are eager to see how this game unfolds, especially with both teams vying for a coveted spot in the playoffs. The stakes are high, and the excitement is palpable!

Saban's Alabama Record vs. LSU

Nick Saban's first head-coaching stop in the SEC came when LSU hired him away from Michigan State ahead of the 2000 season. The nine-time National Coach of the Year inherited a program that hadn’t won an outright conference championship since 1986 or a national title since 1958. However, Saban quickly brought both of those trophies back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In five seasons leading the Tigers, Saban compiled a record of 48-16, winning two SEC titles and a national championship. He went 4-1 in five meetings with Alabama. But then the NFL came calling, and Saban bolted to the Miami Dolphins, where he spent two seasons before ultimately making his return to college football in 2007 with the Crimson Tide.

Going into Saturday's game, Saban has won 201 games and eight SEC titles at Alabama. That success has carried over to the Alabama-LSU series, where the 72-year-old is 12-5 against LSU since arriving in Tuscaloosa. Despite this, LSU accounts for nearly 20 percent of Saban's losses at Alabama (28 over 17 seasons).

Alabama leads the all-time series against LSU 55-27-5.

Memorable Alabama-LSU Moments Under Saban

Saban's first Alabama-LSU game wearing crimson didn’t go so well. Les Miles, who replaced Saban at LSU after he left for the pros, took his Tigers team into Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama, 41-34, in 2007. LSU went on to win the BCS National Championship that season.

Saban lost three of his first five meetings with LSU, in what is sometimes referred to as the "Nick Saban Bowl." This includes a matchup that was billed as the "Game of the Century." The stakes in this series may have never been higher than during the 2011 season when No. 2 Alabama hosted No. 1 LSU in one of the most anticipated sporting events in recent memory.

The Tigers won 9-6 in overtime, but Alabama got its revenge, winning the rematch 21-0 in the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans. That win marked the first of eight straight victories for Alabama in the series.

LSU wouldn’t win against Alabama again until 2019 when eventual Heisman winner Joe Burrow led the Tigers to a thrilling 46-41 victory in Tuscaloosa. Burrow threw for 393 yards and three touchdowns, while Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa went for 418 yards, four scores, and an interception. This game featured dozens of future NFL players, showcasing the incredible talent present in both teams.

LSU Can Make History With Win Saturday

Alabama rarely loses at all under Saban, especially not to the same team in consecutive years. Since 2007, only two coaches have managed to topple the Crimson Tide in back-to-back campaigns: Miles in 2010-11 and former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze in 2014-15. LSU coach Brian Kelly can join that exclusive company with a win on Saturday.

Kelly's victory against Alabama last year came in his first season at Baton Rouge. Saban's Alabama teams beat Kelly twice by a combined score of 73-28 when he coached Notre Dame—once in the BCS title game and once in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Since the "Game of the Century," Alabama is 10-0 against LSU when it holds the Tigers to 17 points or fewer and 0-2 when allowing more than that. However, achieving this feat could be tough this season, as the Tigers are scoring 47.4 points per game, the most in the country. Daniels, a Heisman Trophy candidate, has accounted for 30 total touchdowns (25 passing and five rushing) through eight games.

"He killed us last year," Saban commented about Daniels this week. "The guy was a really, really good player last year. He's a really, really good player now." With both teams poised for a fierce battle, fans are eager to see how this historic rivalry plays out!