Alabama Football: On win streaks in and out of conference play

Alabama Football fans are well versed in the unparalleled Crimson Tide record winning streak against unranked teams. When we last discussed the streak it was at 95 wins and grew to 98 wins before the end of the 2020 season. No other college football program has ever come close to such consistency.

Other streaks provide even greater satisfaction for Crimson Tide fans. The Arkansas win that took the Tide to 98 straight over unranked opponents was the 14th straight against the Hogs. Bringing more joy to Alabama football fans is the Tennesse streak that also sits at 14 straight wins for the Tide. Also at double digits is the Tide win streak over Mississippi State, at 13.

Coming off the 2020 undefeated season, the Alabama Crimson Tide has a winning streak against every 2021 regular-season opponent. The streaks are only one game for four ’21 opponents; Auburn, LSU, Miami and New Mexico State. The Crimson Tide has a 3-game win streak over Mercer, being undefeated against the Bears. The Tide’s Ole Miss streak is at five wins. Alabama Football opponents, Southern Mississippi and Florida have lost seven straight to the Crimson Tide.  In October, the Tide will be seeking a ninth straight win over Texas A&M.

Can Alabama Football extend the streaks in ’21?

As we opined a few weeks ago, Crimson Tide history argues the ’21 team will not be undefeated. Nick Saban would rightly argue such history means nothing in terms of future outcomes.

An offshoot to giving thought to current win streaks is to review the Crimson Tide history against other Power Five conferences.

Crimson Tide Winning Percentage vs. Power Fives (based on current alignments)

The Alabama Crimson Tide has its best record against the ACC. The Tide’s record against the ACC is either 77.3 percent or 68.8 percent, depending on whether the Georgia Tech games, when the Yellow Jackets were in the SEC, are counted. No ACC school has a winning record against the Crimson Tide except Boston College. The Eagles have beaten the Tide, three times in four games.

Next in conference success for the Crimson Tide is the Big Ten. Alabama Football has won 68.3 percent of its games against the league. Only one B1G school has a winning record over the Tide. That is Minnesota with one win.

The Crimson Tide holds a 55.7 percent win rate against Pac 12 teams. The most Tide success among Pac 12  teams is over Southern Cal at an 80 percent pace. Two of the league’s teams have a winning record over the Tide, though combined the two schools have played the Tide only four times. UCLA has two of the wins and the other was by Utah.

This post takes a downward turn when reviewing the Big 12 games. The Crimson Tide is 10-14-2 (40 percent wins) against current Big 12 teams. The Tide’s major thorn to the west has been the Texas Longhorns, with the Tide have just one win and one tie in nine contests.

Note: Records for the post were compiled from two exceptional data sources; mcubed.net and sports-reference.com.

Alabama Football fans would rather not be reminded, but the Tide’s overall record against Notre Dame is just 37.5 percent, win success. Against SEC teams, the Crimson Tide holds a 72.3 percent win rate going back to 1933.