The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Spirit Squads compete in the UCA and UDA College National Championships.
Athletics facilities on the campus include the 100,077-seat Bryant–Denny Stadium, named after football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former University President George Denny, 15,316-seat Coleman Coliseum, Foster Auditorium, Sewell–Thomas Stadium, the Alabama Soccer Stadium, the Sam Bailey Track Stadium, the Alabama Aquatic Center, and the Alabama Tennis Stadium.
Sports sponsored Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Golf Football Gymnastics Golf Rowing Swimming & diving Soccer Tennis Softball Track and field† Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field† Volleyball
Football
University of Alabama law student William G. Little learned how to play American football while attending school in Andover, Massachusetts and began teaching the sport to fellow Alabama students in early 1892. Later in the year, the school formed an official team of 19 players, with Little as captain and E. B. Beaumont as head coach. Early newspaper accounts of Alabama football simply listed the team as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White", after the school colors. Headline writers then made popular the nickname "The Thin Red Line". It was not until 1907 that the name "Crimson Tide" was used to describe Alabama. The name was supposedly first used by Hugh Roberts, former sports editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald. Roberts coined the nickname to describe the 1907 Alabama–Auburn game, played in a sea of mud. Although Auburn was favored to win, Alabama played well in the red mud and held Auburn to a 6–6 tie.
Since then, the program has won 28 Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships and claimed 18 national championships. These include, for years prior to consensus selections, five titles from NCAA-recognized "major selectors" bestowed in 1934 and 1941, and retrospectively for 1925, 1926, and 1930. Alabama was also retrospectively selected as national champion for 1945, 1966, and 1977, as well as at the end of the 1975 college football season by the Matthews, Congrove, Colley Matrix, and Dunkel Systems, but these five are not claimed by the university. In January 2012, Alabama defeated No.1 LSU 21–0 to take the BCS national title. In January 2013, Alabama defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42–14 for its 15th national championship. In January 2016, Alabama defeated the Clemson Tigers 45–40 to claim its 16th national championship. On January 8, 2018, Alabama defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 26–23 to take the team's 17th national championship. On January 11, 2021, Alabama defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 52-24 for its 18th national championship.
The team has also made 65 bowl appearances throughout its history (an NCAA record), beginning with the 1926 Rose Bowl. Alabama's most recent bowl appearance was a loss to the eventual National Champion, University of Michigan, 20-27 at the 2024 Rose Bowl. Alabama is scheduled to play Michigan again on December 31, 2024. Alabama has a 44–26–3 bowl game record. Since 1913, Alabama has had 98 players selected as first team All-Americans, with 29 of them being consensus selections. In 2009, Alabama also recorded their first Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram II, in the closest Heisman Trophy race. In 2015, Alabama had its second Heisman Trophy winner in Derrick Henry. In 2020, wide receiver DeVonta Smith became the program's third Heisman Trophy winner. And in 2022 Bryce Young became the first quarterback, and fourth overall Heisman Trophy winner.
Men's basketball
Alabama's men's basketball program has numerous SEC Championships and players becoming NBA stars and international professional players. In the conference, it trails only Kentucky in basketball wins, SEC tournament titles, and SEC regular season conference titles. The men's basketball program rose to a No.1 national ranking briefly in 2002. The Crimson Tide became a regular conference basketball contender much as it was in the 1980s under the direction of Coach Wimp Sanderson. Under head coach and former point guard Mark Gottfried, the Tide advanced to postseason play for six consecutive years, culminating with the team's advancement into the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history in 2004, where the team lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the Phoenix regional final.
In January 2009, Head Coach Mark Gottfried resigned after eleven years at Alabama. Soon afterwards Anthony Grant was hired as the new head coach. Under his watch the Crimson Tide battled through a tough first year, finishing 17–15 and achieving a top-10 ranking in points allowed on defense. Grant's second season with the Tide resulted in the SEC Western Division Championship, finishing 12–4 in the SEC and an overall record of 25–12. They entered the 2011 NIT Tournament with a No.1 seed and made it to the NIT Championship Game and finished as the runner-up. The Crimson Tide was unbeaten at home with a perfect 19–0 season, a school record. In 2012 the Crimson Tide was a participant in the NCAA tournament and finished its season with a 21–12 record. Former Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets coach Avery Johnson became the Alabama Head Coach on April 5, 2015. Nate Oats became head coach on March 27, 2019. Since then Nate Oats has been 92-41 with the Tide. In 2023 they went all the way to the tournament as the no.1 seed for the first time in program history. They lost to the San Diego State in the Sweet Sixteen.
Women's basketball
Alabama's women's basketball team competes in Coleman Coliseum and had previously played in Foster Auditorium. The team played its first game in 1974 and has since been a varsity sport. The team has had nine head coaches, including Rick Moody, who guided the club to the 1994 NCAA Women's Final Four. Kristy Curry was named head coach on May 11, 2013, replacing Wendell Hudson.
The Crimson Tide has appeared in ten post-season Tournaments for the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, including an eight-year streak of consecutive appearances in the tournament stretching from 1992 to 1999. In ten NCAA tournament appearances, Alabama has advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" six times and the "Elite Eight" and the "Final Four" in 1994. The most successful season was 1996–1997 when the Tide finished second in the Southeastern Conference (10–2 record) and had a mid-season national ranking of No.2 in polls by the AP and USA Today (November 12, 1996); they finished with a 25–7 overall record. The University of Alabama Women's Basketball program shares the national record with Duke University for the most total points for both teams when Alabama defeated Duke 121–120 (in four overtimes) in 1995 in the NCAA tournament, a game that ESPN has declared as one of the best all-time women's basketball tournament games.. Sports.espn.go.com Seven former players for the University of Alabama have made rosters of teams of the WNBA. Alabama has had an active player in the WNBA through every year of its existence. The current head coach for the Crimson Tide is Kristy Curry. The team played its first season of 1974–75 in Foster Auditorium, but moved to what is now Coleman Coliseum the following season. After Foster Auditorium was extensively renovated in a project that began in 2009, the Tide returned to their original home on February 13, 2011.
Baseball
Alabama has baseball. The Crimson Tide is second to LSU for the most SEC titles with 14 (including 13 regular season titles and one tournament title that was won in 1983, during an era in which the tournament decided the overall SEC title). Alabama is also second to the Tigers with seven SEC Tournament championships, including the 1983 one that decided the overall SEC title. Tide baseball teams have participated in the NCAA College World Series five times (1950, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1999), finishing second in 1983 (to Texas) and 1997 (to LSU). Home games are played at Sewell–Thomas Stadium, known as "The Joe" to Crimson Tide fans. The baseball team is currently coached by head coach Brad Bohannon.
Softball
The Alabama softball team was started in 1997. They are currently coached by head coach Patrick Murphy and assistant coaches Alyson Habetz and Stephanie VanBrakle. They have won six Southeastern Conference championships (two regular seasons and four tournaments), made 18 consecutive NCAA tournaments (every year since 1999) and have advanced to the Women's College World Series eight times, including back-to-back third-place finishes in the 2008 and 2009 series. On June 7, 2012, Alabama became the first team in SEC history to win the WCWS Championship defeating Oklahoma in three games. The team's current overall record stands at 708–224 (.759). Alabama has won the SEC softball tournament five times (1998, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2012).
Golf
Alabama's men's and women's golf teams have become two of the top programs in the nation since head coaches Jay Seawell (men) and Mic Potter (women) took over in the 2002 and 2006 respectively. They have combined to make the NCAA tournament 13 out of 14 chances since they arrived, and have each led their teams to a Southeastern Conference Championship. Overall the Crimson Tide golf teams have combined to make the NCAA tournament 31 times, won the SEC Championship four times, and have had over 30 players honored as All-Americans. The men's golf program finished sixth in the nation in 2007, while being consistently ranked in the top three in the 2007–08 season. The home course for the Tide has been the Ol' Colony Golf Complex since 2005.
In 2012, the Crimson Tide has two of the best teams in the country with the women ranked No.1 and men ranked No.4 by Golf Week. The women's golf team won their first national title in 2012 while the men finished as the national runner-up. In 1941, Eleanor Dudley won the inaugural women's individual intercollegiate golf championship (an event conducted by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS)—which later evolved into the AIAW championship in the 1970s).
On June 2, 2013, the Alabama men's golf team won their first NCAA national title after defeating Illinois in the title match.
Gymnastics
The women's gymnastics squad at the University of Alabama first competed in 1975. The squad did not have a winning season until the arrival of former coach Sarah Patterson in 1979. In the following 35 years under Patterson and her husband David, the squad won six NCAA national championships, seven SEC championships, 26 regional titles, and 248 All-American honors. It has placed in the top five at the NCAA Championships 25 of the past 29 years and won national championships six times: in 1988, 1991, 1996, 2002, and most recently won back to back titles in 2011 and 2012. Alabama has also won nine SEC Championships including 1988, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015. The gymnastics squad also hosts an annual fundraiser for breast cancer, where the crowd is encouraged to "Think Pink" and support the cause by turning out in pink clothing. As of the 2009 fundraiser, the effort had raised in excess of $750,000.Walsh, Christopher. "'Power of Pink' draws green", The Tuscaloosa News, February 26, 2009. Retrieved on May 17, 2009.