Alabama leads LSU 58 to 27 with five ties, and has won the last three, which is the normal state of a series that has been one sided in every era except one. Between 2000 and 2011 LSU won eight of twelve, the only sustained run the Tigers have had, and it coincided with the years Nick Saban was coaching them and then coaching against them. The 2026 game is November 7 in Baton Rouge.
| All time series | Alabama 58, LSU 27, 5 ties |
| First meeting | November 18, 1895, LSU 12 to 6 |
| Most recent | November 8, 2025, Alabama 20 to 9 in Tuscaloosa |
| Longest streak | Alabama, eleven, 1971 to 1981 |
| Largest margin | Alabama 47 to 3, 1922 |
| LSU’s last win | 2022, 32 to 31 in overtime in Baton Rouge |
| Traditional date | First Saturday in November |
| Next meeting | November 7, 2026, Tiger Stadium |
The Bryant Years
Bear Bryant went 14 and 1 against LSU across 25 seasons, including eleven straight wins from 1971 to 1981, the longest run in the series. Charles McClendon, who had played for Bryant at Kentucky, coached LSU for most of that stretch and beat his old coach once, in 1970. The game was played in Birmingham as often as in Baton Rouge in those years, and the margin Alabama built then is most of the reason the series looks as it does.
The Saban Bowl
Nick Saban coached LSU from 2000 to 2004, went 4 and 1 against Alabama, and won the 2003 national title. He returned to the SEC at Alabama in 2007 and coached against LSU every year until his retirement after the 2023 season, going 13 and 5 in those games including the 2011 title game. Les Miles beat him in three of their first five meetings, including the 2007 game that helped LSU to a national title and the 2011 regular season game, and then lost every one after that. The name Saban Bowl stuck.
2011: Twice in One Season
The November 5, 2011 game in Tuscaloosa matched the top two teams in the country and LSU won 9 to 6 in overtime, a game with no touchdowns that is still called the Game of the Century by the people who liked it and something else by the people who didn’t. The BCS then paired the same two teams in the championship game in New Orleans, and Alabama won 21 to 0 without allowing LSU across midfield until the fourth quarter. It is the only time a national title game has been a rematch of a regular season conference game, and the reason the BCS ended two years later.
The Streak Since
Alabama won eight straight from 2012 to 2018, LSU won 46 to 41 in Tuscaloosa in 2019 on the way to its own title, and Alabama has won five of six since. The 2022 game, a 32 to 31 overtime win in Baton Rouge on a two point conversion by Jayden Daniels, is LSU’s only victory in the series in the past six years. The 2025 game was a 20 to 9 Alabama win with Frank Wilson as LSU’s interim coach.
What It Has Decided
The game has settled the SEC West or the national title picture more often than any other fixture in the conference since 2000. LSU’s 2003, 2007 and 2019 championships all ran through wins over Alabama, and Alabama’s 2011, 2012 and 2015 titles all included wins over LSU. Between them the two schools won nine national championships between 2003 and 2020, and the winner of this game won the title in six of those seasons.
The Bottom Line
Alabama leads LSU 58 to 27 with five ties across 90 games and has won three straight. LSU’s only sustained run came in the twelve years around Nick Saban’s move from one sideline to the other, and the 2011 season produced both the 9 to 6 overtime game and the 21 to 0 title game rematch. Lane Kiffin’s first Alabama game is November 7, 2026 in Tiger Stadium. Our Alabama vs Auburn page covers the Crimson Tide’s other November rivalry.