| Alabama Crimson Tide | |
| University | University of Alabama |
|---|---|
| Conference(s) | Southeastern Conference Conference USA[A 1] |
| NCAA | Division I / FBS |
| Athletics director | Mal Moore |
| Location | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Varsity teams | 19 |
| Football stadium | Bryant-Denny Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Coleman Coliseum (men) Foster Auditorium (women) |
| Baseball stadium | Sewell-Thomas Stadium |
| Soccer stadium | Alabama Soccer Stadium |
| Other arenas | Rhoads Stadium Foster Auditorium Hank Crisp Indoor Facility Sam Bailey Track Stadium |
| Mascot | Big Al |
| Nickname | Crimson Tide |
| Fight song | Yea Alabama |
| Colors | Crimson and White
|
| Homepage | RollTide.com |
The University of Alabama features 19 varsity sports teams. Both the male and female athletic teams are called the Crimson Tide. They participate in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Southeastern Conference Western Division. In 2002, Sports Illustrated named Alabama the #26 best collegiate sports program in America.[1] Athletics facilities on the campus include the 101,821-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium, named after legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former University President George Denny, and 15,316-seat Coleman Coliseum.
Main rivalries for the program include those with Auburn University and the University of Tennessee. The rivalry with the Auburn Tigers is especially heated, as the two compete annually in nearly all sports. The annual football meeting, nicknamed the Iron Bowl, is considered among the most intense college football rivalries, as well as one of the top rivalries in all sports—behind the New York Yankees–Boston Red Sox baseball rivalry according to Sports Illustrated and ESPN.[2] Other rivalries include those against Mississippi State University (baseball and basketball)- (Alabama-Mississippi State rivalry), Louisiana State University (football)- (Alabama-LSU rivalry), the University of Mississippi- (Alabama–Ole Miss rivalry), and the University of Georgia (women's gymnastics).
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University of Alabama law student William G. Little learned how to play American football while attending school in Andover, Massachusetts and began teaching the sport to fellow Alabama students in early 1892.[3][4] Later in the year, the school formed an official team of 19 players, with Little as captain and E. B. Beaumont as head coach. Early newspaper accounts of Alabama football simply listed the team as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White" after the school colors. Headline writers then made popular the nickname "The Thin Red Line". It was not until 1907 that the name "Crimson Tide" was used to describe Alabama. The name was supposedly first used by Hugh Roberts, former sports editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald. Roberts coined the nickname to describe the 1907 Alabama-Auburn game, played in a sea of mud. Although Auburn was favored to win, Alabama played well in the red mud and held Auburn to a 6-6 tie.
Since then, the program has won 22 SEC championships and claims 13 national championships. In addition to the 13 championships claimed by the university, Alabama has been recognized by the NCAA as National Champions for the 1945, 1962, 1966, 1967, and 1977 college football seasons.[5] However, those championships are not claimed by Alabama.[6][7] In December 2011, Alabama finished the season ranked #2 and will play LSU in the BCS Championship game.
The team has also made 58 bowl appearances throughout their history, beginning with the 1926 Rose Bowl to, the most recent, the 2011 Capital One Bowl. In those bowls, Alabama has a 33–22–3 record. Since 1913, Alabama has 98 first team All-Americans, 29 consensus. In 2009, Alabama also recorded their first Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram, in the closest Heisman Trophy race ever.[8]
Alabama's men's basketball program has been overshadowed for most of its history by football. However, in recent years, the men's basketball program has risen in stature nationally, achieving a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2002. UA has become a regular conference basketball contender much as it was in the '80s under the direction of Coach Wimp Sanderson. Under head coach and former point guard Mark Gottfried, the Tide advanced to postseason play for six consecutive years, culminating with the team's advancement into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history in 2004, where the team lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the Phoenix Regional Final.
In January 2009, Head Coach Mark Gottfried resigned after eleven years at Alabama. Soon afterwards Anthony Grant was hired as the new Head Coach. Under his watch the Crimson Tide battled through a tough first year, finishing 17-15 and falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid, yet achieving a top 10 ranking in points allowed. Grant's second, and current, season with the Tide was much brighter. Although falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid yet again, they were able to win the SEC Western Division Championship, finishing 12-4 in the SEC with an overall record of 21-11. They entered the NIT Tournament with a #1 seed and made it to the final four, winning three more home games within the NIT Tournament. Also they were able to stay unbeaten at home with a perfect 19-0 season, a school record.
Alabama's women's basketball team, compete in Foster Auditorium. The team played its first game in 1974 and has been a varsity sport ever since. The team has had eight head coaches, including Rick Moody, who guided the club to the 1994 NCAA Women's Final Four. Wendell Hudson was named head coach on March 15, 2008, replacing Stephany Smith.
The Crimson Tide has appeared in 10 Tournaments for the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, including an eight-year streak of consecutive appearances in the tournament stretching from 1992 to 1999. In 10 NCAA tournament appearances, Alabama has advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" six times and the "Elite Eight" and the "Final Four" in 1994. The most successful season was 1996-1997 when the Tide finished in second place in the Southeastern Conference (10-2 record) and had a midseason national ranking of #2 in polls by the AP and USA Today (November 12, 1996), and finished with a 25-7 overall record. The University of Alabama Women's Basketball program shares the national record with Duke University for the most total points for both teams when Alabama defeated Duke 121-120 (in four overtimes) in 1995 in the NCAA Tournament, a game that ESPN has declared as one of the best all-time women's basketball tournament games.[9] Seven former players for the University of Alabama have made rosters of teams of the WNBA. Alabama has had an active player in the WNBA through every year of its existence. The current head coach for the Crimson Tide is Wendell Hudson. The team played its first season of 1974–75 in Foster Auditorium, but moved to what is now Coleman Coliseum the following season. After Foster Auditorium was extensively renovated in a project that began in 2009, the Tide returned to their original home on February 13, 2011.
Alabama also has a winning tradition in baseball. The Crimson Tide is tied with LSU for the most SEC titles with 14 regular season titles. Alabama also leads the conference with 7 SEC Tournament Championships.[10] Tide baseball teams have participated in the NCAA College World Series five times (1950, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1999), finishing second in 1983 and 1997. Home games are played at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. They are currently coached by head coach Mitch Gaspard and assistant coaches Andy Phillips and Dax Norris.
The Alabama softball team was started in 1997. They are currently coached by head coach Patrick Murphy and assistant coaches Alyson Habetz and Stephanie VanBrakle. They have won six Southeastern Conference championships (two regular seasons and four tournaments), made 13 consecutive NCAA tournaments (every year since 1999) and have advanced to the Women's College World Series 7 times, including back-to-back 3rd place finishes in the 2008 and 2009 series. The team's current overall record stands at 707–224 (.759). Alabama has won the SEC Softball Tournament four times (1998, 2003, 2005, 2010).
Alabama's men's and women's golf teams have become two of the top programs in the nation since head coaches Jay Seawell (men) and Mic Potter (women) took over in the 2002 and 2006 respectively. They have combined to make the NCAA Tournament 13 out of 14 chances since they arrived, and have each lead their teams to a Southeastern Conference Championship. Overall the Crimson Tide golf teams have combined to make the NCAA Tournament 31 times, won the SEC Championship 3 times, and have had over 30 players honored as All-Americans. The men's golf program finished 6th in the nation in 2007 while being consistently ranked in the top three in the 2007–2008 season. The home course for the Tide has been the Ol' Colony Golf Complex since 2005.
The Crimson Tide currently has two of the best teams in the country with the women ranked #1, and men ranked #4, by Golfweek.[11]
The women's gymnastics squad at The University of Alabama first competed in 1975. The squad did not have a winning season until the arrival of Sarah Patterson in 1979. In the intervening 33 years under Patterson and her husband David, the squad has won 5 national championships, 7 SEC championships, 26 regional titles, and 248 All-American honors. It has placed in the top 5 at the NCAA Championships 25 of the past 29 years and won the championships five times: in 1988, 1991, 1996, 2002, and most recently in 2011. Alabama has also won 7 SEC Championships including 1988, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2003 2009, and 2011. The gymnastics squad also hosts an annual fundraiser for breast cancer, where the crowd is encouraged to "Think Pink" and support the cause by turning out in pink clothing. As of the 2009 fundraiser, the effort had raised in excess of $750,000.[12]
Gymnastics meets have an average attendance of over 13,000 at Coleman Coliseum. Meets against the team's arch-rival, the University of Georgia Gymdogs, often sell out. Alabama holds seven of the eleven NCAA records for the largest gymnastics crowds of all time, including an attendance of 15,162 fans on January 20, 2006. Alabama's women's gymnastics team, compete in Coleman Coliseum.
Women's rowing is the most recent addition to Alabama's list of varsity athletics. Mal Moore announced the addition of Alabama's 21st varsity sport in October 2005. The women's rowing team became the newest varsity sport at The University of Alabama in Fall 2006. The team was added due to the NCAA's Title IX and allows for 20 full scholarships.[13] Taking only girls who had previously rowed for the Alabama Crew Club (est. 1987) and other walk-ons, Head Coach Larry Davis built the program from the ground up. In the first year of competition (2006–2007), the Tide defeated the University of Cincinnati, Creighton University, and Murray State University and also won medals at the Head of the Chattahoochee and the Head of the South.
The second year (2007–2008) of competition surprised many as the Varsity 8 went on to win silver medals at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA and also the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Tide again medaled at the Chattanooga Head Race and the Head of the South and recorded several match race victories against Southern Methodist University, Creighton, Murray State, Drake University, and the University of North Carolina. The team also landed three boats in the top 10 of their categories at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.[14]
Within two years, the team has had 25 athletes earn SEC Academic Honor Roll honors and 16 earn Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete awards. For the 2007-2008 school year, Women's Rowing won the team service award by posting the most number of community service hours (over 1500) out of all women's sports at Alabama. Nationally, the Alabama women's rowing team has won both silver (in 2007) and bronze (in 2009) medals in the women's championship 8+ category at the legendary Head of the Charles regatta in Boston.
Women's soccer was a varsity sport from 1986 to 1988, and was revived in 1994. Former Head Coach Don Staley had been with the program since 1994, but stepped down at the end of the 2007 season. He was replaced with former Clemson University head coach Todd Bramble. The team has won the SEC West three times (1995, 97, 98) and participated in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in 1999. In 2005, senior Libby Probst earned third team All America honors and the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award after breaking almost every major offensive record in her career at "The Capstone." They currently play their home games at the Alabama Soccer Stadium.
The Alabama women's volleyball is coached by Ed Allen, who was hired on January 10, 2011. The team has competed in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The team won the SEC Western Division Championship in 2000 and 2004, and was the SEC Volleyball Tournament Runner-up in 2005. In 2000, the Alabama Volleyball team achieved the nation's best team-GPA among Division I Volleyball teams. Past coaches for Alabama Volleyball have included Stephanie Schleuder, Dorothy Franco-Reed, and Judy Green.
Additional varsity sports at the University include tennis, cross country, swimming and diving, and track and field. The University supports both men's and women's programs in all of these sports. The school has had individual success in all of these sports, including Vladislav Polyakov winning national titles in the 200-meter men's breaststroke in 2005 and 2007. The University also has two cheerleading squads (The "Crimson Squad" and "White Squad") and a dance team known as the Crimson Cabaret who compete annually at the UCA/UDA College Nationals. The Cheerleading squad won 2011 College Cheerleading National Championship.
The University of Alabama through University Recreation also fields a number of club sports of varying degrees of competitiveness, though most compete only with other teams from the southeastern part of the country. The club sports include men's volleyball, men's rowing (crew), cricket, cycling, disc golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, racquetball, rugby, men's soccer, team handball, table tennis, triathlon, ultimate frisbee, wheelchair basketball, water polo, water skiing, bass fishing, and wrestling.
Men's Ice Hockey team known as the Frozen Tide competes intercollegiately in Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC) of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) at the ACHA Division III level.[15] Since 2006, Bama Hockey and the Frozen Tide has hosted sporting events for the Greater-Birmingham area at the Pelham Civic Center.[16][17]
The men's lacrosse team competes in the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association at the Division I level. [18] The team plays at the University Recreation Fields and is coached by Randy Nace.
Alabama consistently fields student-athletes who excel in the classroom as well as on the field. The University of Alabama is tied for fifth in the nation for the number of Academic-All Americans since 2000 from all universities. Among BCS conference schools in this category, Alabama trails only Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Penn State.
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