The Alabama–Clemson football rivalry is a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

game between the Crimson Tide of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

and the Tigers of

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

History

The two southern schools have long, decorated histories in the sport of college football. They first met on the football field on November 29, 1900. Clemson won the inaugural matchup by a score of 35–0. The Crimson Tide and Tigers met again in 1904 and 1905, with Clemson winning both games. Beginning with the next meeting between the two squads in 1909, Alabama won the next thirteen matchups against Clemson. The Tide posted the biggest margin of victory in the rivalry in 1931, whopping the Tigers by a margin of 74–7. In the first seven games of Alabama's 13-game streak, Clemson only scored seven total points and was shut out in six of the seven games. After a 56–0 shutout Alabama victory in 1975, the squads didn't meet again until 2008, when they squared off on opening weekend in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The Tide emerged with a 34–10 victory. The last four matchups between the squads had national championship implications and have greatly intensified the rivalry. The teams squared off in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

, with Alabama emerging with a thrilling 45–40 victory. The next year, the teams again found themselves doing battle in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, with Clemson emerging with a thrilling 35–31 victory and their first win over the Crimson Tide since 1905. Once again the teams did battle in the 2018 Sugar Bowl in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

with a trip to the

2018 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 8, 2018, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, and was televised nationally by ESPN. The fourth College Football Playoff N ...

game on the line. Alabama won the contest by a score of 24–6. In the build-up to the 2018 Sugar Bowl, players and coaches from both teams referred to the series as a "respectful" rivalry. The next week, on January 8, 2018, Alabama would win the national championship over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

by a close score of 26–23, their 5th title in 9 seasons and 17th title overall. The two teams met again in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship, the fourth playoff match-up in the series in as many years, and the third to be in a championship game. Clemson blew out Alabama 44–16 in that meeting, to win their 3rd title, and their 2nd in 3 years. There are numerous connections between the two programs. Clemson's top three winningest head coaches, Frank Howard,

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tiger ...

, and Danny Ford, all played at Alabama, as did Clemson coaches Hootie Ingram and Charley Pell.

Game results

Results by location

''As of'' ''January 7, 2019''

Record by game type

''As of'' ''January 7, 2019''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama-Clemson football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Alabama Crimson Tide football Clemson Tigers football

History

Game results

Results by location

Record by game type

See also

References