Alabama's first bowl game was in 1926, whenWallace Wade led them to the first of three Rose Bowls during his tenure and defeatedWashington20–19.[5] Taking over for Wade following the 1930 season, between 1931 and 1946Frank Thomas led Alabama to six bowl appearances including three Rose, and one trip each to the Cotton, Orange and Sugar Bowls.[6] After Thomas,Harold Drew led Alabama to the Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls between 1947 and 1954.[7] After a five-year bowl absence, Alabama made the first of 24 consecutive bowl appearances underPaul "Bear" Bryant in the 1959Liberty Bowl.[8] From 1959 to 1982, Bryant led the Crimson Tide to eight Sugar, five Orange, four Cotton, four Liberty, twoBluebonnet and oneGator Bowls.[8]
After Bryant retired,Ray Perkins extended Alabama's consecutive bowl game streak to 25 years with a victory in the 1983Sun Bowl.[9] However, the streak ended when the1984 team finished the season with a record of five wins and six losses and failed to qualify for a bowl for the first time in 26 years.[10] The bowl absence lasted only one season as Perkins led the Crimson Tide to wins in both theAloha and Sun Bowls before he resigned as head coach following the1986 season.[11]Bill Curry continued the bowl tradition and led the Crimson Tide toHall of Fame, Sun and Sugar Bowl appearances in his three seasons as head coach.[12] After Curry,Gene Stallings took Alabama to theFiesta,Blockbuster, Gator,Citrus and Outback Bowls.[13] Stallings also led the Crimson Tide to victory in the firstBowl Coalition national championship game with a 34–13 victory overMiami in the Sugar Bowl.[14][15] In August 1995, as part of the penalty imposed by the NCAA for rules violations, Alabama was ruled ineligible to participate in the1995 bowl season.[16]
Following the retirement of Stallings,Mike DuBose was hired as head coach.[17] After failing to qualify for a bowl game in1997, DuBose led the Crimson Tide to the inauguralMusic City Bowl and Alabama's first BCS bowl berth in the Orange Bowl.[3][18] After again failing to qualify for a bowl in2000, DuBose was fired andDennis Franchione was hired as head coach.[19] In his first season, Franchione led Alabama to theIndependence Bowl.[18] In February 2002, the NCAA found Alabama violated multiple rules, and as part of its penalty a two-year bowl ban was imposed to include both the2002 and2003 seasons.[20] Eligible again to compete in bowl games,Mike Shula led Alabama to the Music City Bowl and a victory in the Cotton Bowl.[18] However, in 2009, Alabama was again found to have violated NCAA rules between 2005 and 2007 and as part of their penalty, the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic victory was officially vacated.[21] In the week following the 2006loss to Auburn, Shula was fired andJoe Kines served as interim head coach for the Independence Bowl loss.[18][22]
In January 2007,Nick Saban was hired as head coach, and has led the Crimson Tide to 15 bowl appearances in his twelve seasons at Alabama.[23] After defeatingColorado in the Independence Bowl, Saban led Alabama to their second BCS bowl againstUtah in the Sugar Bowl.[3][23] In 2009, Saban led the Crimson Tide to the BCS National Championship Game, and defeatedTexas 37–21 to clinch the program's first national title of the BCS era.[3][23] A year after Alabama defeatedMichigan State in the2011 Capital One Bowl, the Crimson Tide defeatedLSU in theBCS National Championship Game to clinch the program's second national title of the BCS era.[24][25] The following season, the Crimson Tide won their second consecutiveBCS National Championship Game by a final score of 42–14 overNotre Dame.[26] In their latest bowl appearance, Alabama defeatedOhio State in the2021 College Football Playoff National Championship.[27] The win brings Alabama's overall bowl record to 44 wins, 26 losses, and 3 ties, placing the Crimson Tide in first place among all FBS schools for both bowl appearances and victories.[1]
^Results are sortable first by whether the result was an Alabama win, loss or tie and then second by themargin of victory.
^Links to the season article for the Alabama team that competed in the bowl for that year.
^Links to the season article for the opponent that Alabama competed against in the bowl for that year when available or to their general page when unavailable.
^This stadium was built for the 1926Sesquicentennial Exposition and originally known as Sesquicentennial Stadium. After the end of the exposition, it was renamed Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, retaining that name until 1964. It was renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium in the wake ofKennedy's assassination, and retained that name until its demolition in 1992.
^abOriginally called Memphis Memorial Stadium, in 1976 it was renamed Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.[29]
^abTheOutback Bowl was previously known as the Hall of Fame Bowl (1986–1995).[30]
^TheCamping World Bowl was at the time known as the Blockbuster Bowl (1990–1993).
^abTheCitrus Bowl has been known as: the Tangerine Bowl (1947–1982), Florida Citrus Bowl (1983–1993), CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl (1994–1999), OurHouse.com Florida Citrus Bowl (2000), Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (2001–2002), Capital One Bowl (2003–2014), Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl (2015–2017), Citrus Bowl presented by Overton's (2018), and VRBO Citrus Bowl (2019–present).[30]
^abThe Citrus Bowl stadium has been known as Camping World Stadium since 2016.[31]
^abcOriginally called Joe Robbie Stadium, in 1996 it was renamed Pro Player Stadium afternaming rights were sold, and it retained the Pro Player moniker through the 2005 season. It was later known as Sun Life Stadium, and is now known as Hard Rock Stadium.[32][33][34]
^This stadium opened in 1999 as Adelphia Coliseum. In 2002, after Adelphia missed a required payment on its naming rights contract and later filed for bankruptcy, the contract was terminated and the stadium became The Coliseum. It was renamed LP Field in 2006 and Nissan Stadium in 2015.[35][36]
^In March 2009, the NCAA ruled that Alabama had to vacate its 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic victory due to sanctions stemming from textbook-related infractions discovered during the 2007 season. After an unsuccessful appeal to the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee, the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic victory was officially vacated. As the penalty to vacate the victory did not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the contest or award a victory to the opponent,Texas Tech still counts the game as a loss in its overall records.[21]
^Mike Shula coached the entire 2006 regular season with Joe Kines serving as the interim head coach for the bowl game.
^abcOn October 3, 2011, it was announced thatMercedes-Benz purchasednaming rights to the Superdome effective October 23, 2011. From 1976 through 2011 the facility was called the Louisiana Superdome.[37]
^This stadium opened in 2008 as Cardinals Stadium, but shortly thereafter was renamed University of Phoenix Stadium, retaining that name until 2018. It is now known as State Farm Stadium.[38]
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)."Bowl/All-Star Game Records"(PDF).2011 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 15, 2012. RetrievedAugust 30, 2011.
UA Athletics Media Relations Office."Bowl Bound"(PDF).2010 Alabama Football Media Guide. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on May 23, 2011. RetrievedJanuary 29, 2011.
