Athletic teams at The University of Alabama are known as the Crimson Tide. The school fields teams in 11 varsity sports in the NCAA's Division I and is a member of the competitive Southeastern Conference (Western Division). The school's athletic teams compete at the highest level, often contending for conference and NCAA titles. Athletic facilities on campus include the 92,138-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium, named after legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former UA President George Denny, and the 15,043-seat Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama maintains athletic rivalries with Auburn University and University of Tennessee. The rivalry with Auburn is especially heated, as it encompasses all sports. The annual Alabama-Auburn football game is nicknamed the Iron Bowl and is considered by many as the most intense game in all of college football; and second in US sports rivalries only to the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry in baseball (as stated in both ESPN The Magazine, and Sports Illustrated).
The Alabama-Tennessee game has traditionally been played on the third Saturday of each October, and thus the rivalry title, the "Third Saturday in October." While the rivalry with Tennessee is centered around football for the most part, there is no shortage of acrimony here, especially given the recent history between UT Coach Phil Fulmer and his relationship to the Tide's most recent NCAA probation.
There are also rivalries with Mississippi State University (baseball and basketball), LSU (football), and the University of Georgia (women's gymnastics).
The Alabama Crimson Tide football team represents the University of Alabama in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A), competing as a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Alabama is one of the most storied programs in college football history, claiming 12 national championships and having been coached by the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant for 25 years. Alabama has also recorded 25 conference championships, 21 SEC championships, and holds NCAA records with 55 post-season bowl game appearances, 31 bowl game victories, and 28 ten-win seasons. Alabama leads the SEC West Division with its 5 appearances in the SEC Championship game. The Associated Press (AP) ranks Alabama 5th in All Time Final AP Poll appearances. With 787 wins over 112 years of football, Alabama ranks 6th all-time in win-loss records in the NCAA.
Alabama plays its home games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, located on-campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
On January 3, 2007, Nick Saban accepted an offer worth US$32 million guaranteed for 8 years to be the next Crimson Tide head coach. Saban was previously the head coach the of Miami Dolphins of the NFL and he has also coached at Louisiana State University, Michigan State University, and University of Toledo. Preceding Saban as head coach of the team was Mike Shula, a former Tide quarterback, who was fired on November 27, 2006 after a 6-6 regular season.
The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program has been overshadowed for most of its history by football even though it trails only Kentucky in SEC basketball wins, SEC tournament titles and regular season titles. In recent years, the men's basketball program has again risen in stature nationally under head coach Mark Gottfried, achieving a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2003. Further, UA has once again become a regular conference basketball contender, much as it was in the 80s and early 90s under the direction of Wimp Sanderson and the 70s under C. M. Newton. Alabama has 8 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and in the 2003-04 season, the men's team reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament; they ended up losing to eventual champion, Connecticut.
