Alabama has won the SEC 30 times, twice as often as Georgia in second place, and was the conference’s first champion when it formed in 1933. Add four Southern Conference titles from before that and the total is 34, seventh most in college football.
Every SEC Title by Coach
| Coach | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Bear Bryant | 13 | 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981 |
| Nick Saban | 9 | 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023 |
| Frank Thomas | 4 | 1933, 1934, 1937, 1945 |
| Harold Drew | 1 | 1953 |
| Bill Curry | 1 | 1989 |
| Gene Stallings | 1 | 1992 |
| Mike DuBose | 1 | 1999 |
Alabama also won the Southern Conference in 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1930 under Wallace Wade, before the SEC was formed.
Bryant’s Thirteen
Bear Bryant won 13 SEC championships in 25 seasons, including five straight from 1971 to 1975 and three of four from 1977 to 1979. Between 1971 and 1981 his teams won the conference nine times in eleven years. No SEC coach has approached that, and the closest anyone has come is Saban’s nine.
Saban’s Nine
Saban won nine SEC titles in 17 seasons, all of them in the championship game era, which means every one was decided on the field in Atlanta rather than by record. The 2023 title, a 27 to 24 win over Georgia in his final season, ended a 29 game Bulldogs winning streak and was his last conference championship.
The Gap to Second
Georgia has 15 SEC titles, Tennessee 13, and LSU 12. Alabama’s 30 is more than any two of those schools combined, and the Crimson Tide have won the conference in every decade since it was founded except the 1980s, when the 1981 and 1989 titles fell on either side of a barren stretch.
The First Champion
The SEC played its first season in 1933 and Alabama won it under Frank Thomas. The Crimson Tide had already won four Southern Conference titles under Wallace Wade, three of which came in national championship seasons, so they arrived in the new league as its most decorated founding member.
The Drought Since 2023
Alabama has not won the SEC in either of Kalen DeBoer’s two seasons, missing the championship game both years. Two seasons is short by any normal standard, but the program has not gone three straight years without a conference title since 2005 to 2008.
The Bottom Line
Alabama has won 30 SEC championships and 34 conference titles in total. Bear Bryant won 13 and Nick Saban nine, and the two account for 22 of the 30. Georgia is second in SEC history with 15, half Alabama’s total. The most recent title came in 2023, Saban’s last season. Our page on most conference championships shows where Alabama ranks nationally.