The Top 5 Alabama football wins over the LSU Tigers

It's hard to remember now, but Alabama football and LSU aren't historical football rivals. The intensity of this matchup ramped up in 2007 when Nick Saban, formerly a national championship winning coach at LSU, arrived in Tuscaloosa.

Prior to the turn of the century, LSU had won just 16 of the 63 meetings on the gridiron. Tiger Stadium, long considered a house of horrors, was anything but for Alabama football. Prior to 2000, LSU hadn't beaten Alabama in "Death Valley" since 1969.

From 2000-2007, LSU beat Alabama seven out eight meetings, including a streak of five in a row, its longest in the series.

Saban arrived in 2007 and things changed, quickly. Alabama and LSU had back-and-forth battles until 2012, when Alabama proceeded to win eight consecutive meetings between the two prior to LSU winning in Tuscaloosa in 2019.

For a while, there was no bigger game in the SEC, and because of that in college football, than Alabama and LSU's November matchup. It was the game that nearly every year decided the SEC's Western Division. From 2007-2023, either the Crimson Tide or the Bengal Tigers won the West 14 of the 17 seasons.

Alabama has had some incredible wins over LSU. Narrowing down the list to just five was a tall task, and there plenty of games that just missed the list. Everyone will have their own opinion, but here's the Top 5 Alabama wins over LSU from my perspective:

5. 1996: No. 10 Alabama 26, No. 11 LSU 0

Prior to Saban's arrival at either school, the 1996 meeting between Alabama and LSU had massive implications in the Western Division race. 1996 was ultimately Gene Stallings last season as the Tide's head coach, and his team entered the November meeting in Baton Rouge with a 7-1 record, but fresh off its first loss of the season on the road against Tennessee.

LSU was 6-1 and looking to take control of the West race to get to Atlanta.

This game is remembered as the berth of an Alabama legend. True freshman Shaun Alexander was a little known kid who was No. 3 on the Crimson Tide's RB depth chart heading into that game in Death Valley. Alexander actually only carried the ball one time in the first half of the game, a 17-yard touchdown run to break a scoreless tie in the second quarter.

In the second half, Alexander was unstoppable, ultimately racking up a program record 291 rushing yards that still stands to this day. He had two 70+ yard touchdown runs in the second half as Alabama cruised to a 26-0 win and the legend was born.

Alexander went on to an impressive four-year career in Tuscaloosa and ultimately went on to win an NFL MVP award with the Seattle Seahawks.

4. 2015: No. 4 Alabama 30, No. 2 LSU 16

The 2015 meeting was supposed to be a coronation for star LSU RB Leonard Fournette who was the runaway favorite for the Heisman Trophy. But instead, Alabama RB Derrick Henry stole the show and made his own case for the Heisman, an award he ultimately won as the Crimson Tide went on to win their fourth national championship under Saban.

Hery carried the ball 38 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the country. Fournette had the misfortunate of going up agains THE best defense in the land, a unit pissed off to have heard all about how Fournette was going to run over them at Bryant-Denny.

Instead, Fournette hit the Alabama wall, managing just 31 yards on 19 caries. He did manage to find the endzone in the fourth quarter of a game that had long been decided, but this game was the turning point in the Heisman race.

3. 2008: No. 1 Alabama 27, No. 15 LSU 21

This was Nick Saban's return to Baton Rouge for the first time since leaving the Tigers for the head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins that he held for two seasons before returning to college to take the Alabama job.

Tensions were high and the rowdy LSU faithful were burning Saban dolls in effigy prior to the game. It was one of the most hostile environments Alabama walked into during Saban's dynastic run as the head coach.

The previous season, Saban's first, Alabama entered the LSU game in Tuscaloosa at 6-2, but a close loss to the Tigers signaled a downward spiral for the Crimson Tide as they lost their final four regular season games. In 2008, Alabama entered the game 9-0 and in firm control of its destiny not just for the SEC West, but in the national title race.

It was a back and forth game, but Alabama safety Rashad Johnson picked off three passes, returning one for a touchdown. The game entered overtime tied at 21 and Johnson intercepted an LSU pass in the endzone on the first possession.

Saban refused to play for a field goal after a potential game winning kick had been blocked at the end of regulation. Instead, John Parker Wilson hit Julio Jones for a pass down to the one yard line, and then Wilson scored on a QB sneak to give Alabama a 27-21 win that clinched their first SEC West title since 1999.

2. 2012: No. 1 Alabama 21, No. 5 LSU 17

Top 5 matchups between these two were par for the course during this era. Alabama was the defending national champions having beaten LSU in the BCS Championship game in New Orleans just eight months prior. LSU was out for revenge, and it was another raucous night crowd at Tiger Stadium.

It was a low scoring first quarter, unsurprisingly between these two, with LSU leading 3-0. Eddie Lacy punched in a touchdown with just over eight minutes to go in the half to give Alabama a 7-3 lead, and then AJ McCarron scored a rushing touchdown with 11 seconds to go to give the Tide what felt like an insurmountable 14-3 advantage.

Up to that point, it had been over 10 quarters since the Tigers scored a touchdown against the Tide.

Jeremy Hill ended that streak with a rushing touchdown late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 14-10. Alabama's offense was inept the whole second half, and a tired defense finally surrendered the lead in the fourth quarter when Zach Mettenberger hit Jarvis Landry for a touchdown.

Alabama couldn't respond initially, and it took a final defensive stand holding the Tigers to a missed field goal for the Tide to have one final chance of getting out of Death Valley alive.

With 1:27 to play, McCarron engineered a legendary drive. He completed three straight passes to LSU killer Kevin Norwood for 44 yards down to the LSU 28. After a incomplete pass to Norwood, Alabama set up a perfectly timed screen pass to TJ Yeldon, who took the ball 28 yards for a touchdown to give the Tide a 21-17 win.

1. 2012: No. 2 Alabama 21, No. 1 LSU 0

Could it be another game? I think this is still my favorite game in the history of Alabama football. The Crimson Tide got a mulligan and a second chance against the Tigers after losing 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa in November of 2011.

The talk before the game was that Alabama didn't deserve to be in the game, and that even if the Crimson Tide won, there was a strong chance the AP would vote LSU No. 1 anyway and it would be a split title.

But Alabama's defense put together one of the most dominant performances of the modern era, holding LSU to 92 yards and not allowing them to cross midfield until late in the fourth quarter.

Alabama's offense wasn't flashy, but it moved the ball consistently against an elite LSU defense. Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy ran the ball well enough, and McCarron took advantage of Heisman finalist Tyrann Mathieu, hitting some big passes to Norwood and some quicker throws to tight end Brad Smelley.

Alabama hit five field goals, all of which were connected on by Jeremy Shelley. Then, finally, with a 15-0 lead and under five minutes to play, the dam finally broke and Richardson broke free down the sideline for a 34 yard touchdown to salt the game away.