Alabama–Auburn football rivalry
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|
| First meeting | February 22, 1893 Auburn 32, Alabama 22 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | November 25, 2017 Auburn 26, Alabama 14 |
| Next meeting | November 24, 2018 |
| Trophy | James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 82 |
| All-time series | Alabama leads, 45–36–1 (.555) |
| Largest victory | Alabama, 55–0 (1948) |
| Longest win streak | Alabama, 9 (1973–81) |
| Current win streak | Auburn, 1 (2017–present) |
The Iron Bowl is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the football teams of the two largest public universities in the U.S. state of Alabama, the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The series is considered one of the most important football rivalries in the annals of American sports.
As the rivalry was played in Birmingham, Alabama for many years at Legion Field, the name of the Iron Bowl comes from Birmingham's historic role in the steel industry. Auburn Coach Shug Jordan is credited with coining the rivalry game's nickname as the "Iron Bowl" in a 1964 interview. Auburn coach Ralph Jordan was asked by reporters how he would deal with the disappointment of not taking his team to a bowl game, Jordan responded, "We've got our bowl game. We have it every year. It's the Iron Bowl in Birmingham."
Alabama leads the series 45–36–1. The game is traditionally played on Thanksgiving weekend. In 1993, both schools agreed to move the game up to the week before Thanksgiving to give themselves a bye for a potential SEC Championship Game berth. In 2007 the conference voted to disallow any team from having a bye before the league championship game, returning the game to its traditional Thanksgiving weekend spot.
For much of the 20th century, the game was played every year in Birmingham at Legion Field, with Alabama winning 34 games and Auburn 19. Four games were played in Montgomery, Alabama, with each team winning two. Since 2000, the games have been played at Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn every odd-numbered year and at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa every even-numbered year. Auburn has an 9–5 record in games played at Jordan–Hare Stadium and a 7–4 record in games played in Tuscaloosa, with 5 of those wins coming at Bryant-Denny.
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