Oklahoma and Alabama are two of college football's blue-blood programs and two of the six winningest teams of all-time, yet the two schools have played each other a total of just seven times.
The Sooners have prevailed in four of the seven meetings, including a 24-3 win last season in Norman. The Crimson Tide have two wins in the limited series, and one game ended in a tie. Five of the games in the series have taken place since 2002, and four of the seven meetings have been in postseason bowls.
The number of games between these two college football behemoths is certain to pick up now that both are members of the Southeastern Conference. Last season was the first conference matchup, and on Saturday, Oklahoma and Alabama will meet for a second consecutive year as conference foes in the regular season.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables has been a part of three of the matchups in the series with Alabama, two as OU's co-defensive coordinator under Bob Stoops and last year's game as head coach, which represented the largest margin of victory in the all-time series. The Sooners have won all three games in which Venables has been involved.
7-game history between Oklahoma and Alabama
1963 Orange Bowl: Alabama 17, Oklahoma 0
The history of the series dates back to 1962, when Big Eight champion and No. 8 Oklahoma was paired against No. 5 Alabama, coached by the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant, in the Orange Bowl. Bud Wilkinson led the Sooners to eight postseason bowl appearances in his 17 historic seasons as Oklahoma head coach, and this would be his last.
Led by All-America and future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath, the Crimson Tide posted a 17-0 shutout over the Sooners, something OU had done to four opponents during the regular season.
OU had multiple scoring opportunities in the game, but couldn't seem to get out of its own way, losing fumbles twice inside the 10-yard line and failing to score in two other trips inside the Crimson Tide's 20-yard line.
1970 Bluebonnet Bowl: OU 24, Alabama 24
The two teams met for a second time in the 1970 Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston, Texas. Chuck Fairbanks was the Oklahoma head coach at the time, with Barry Switzer as offensive coordinator.
OU came into the game with a 7-4 record and ranked 20th in the country. Alabama was unranked and just a tad off in the win-loss column with a 6-5 record.
Oklahoma had introduced the "wishbone" offense during that season and rolled up 349 rushing yards in the bowl game, including touchdown runs of 58 and 25 yards by Greg Pruitt, and 418 yards of total offense. The Sooners held a 21-7 halftime lead, but needed a late 42-yard field goal by Bruce Derr to forge a 24-24 tie.
September 7, 2002: Oklahoma 37, Alabama 27
After the Bluebonnet Bowl matchup in 1970, the two teams did not meet again for 32 years. In 2002, Alabama traveled to Norman for the first of a two-game home-and-home series against the Sooners.
It was the second game of the 2002 season, and Bob Stoops' Sooners, two seasons removed from winning the national championship and ranked No. 2 in the nation, got off to a quick start and led 23-3. The Crimson Tide came out after halftime, however, and mounted one of the greatest comebacks in school history.
Alabama scored 24 unanswered points after halftime and had a 27-24 advantage with under four minutes to go in the game. OU starting quarterback Jason White suffered a season-ending knee injury in the game and replacement Nate Hybl led the Sooners to a pair of touchdowns in the final three minutes to rally the team to a 37-27 win. True Freshman Brody Croyle made his first collegiate appearance at quarterback in the game for Alabama.
September 6, 2003: Oklahoma 20, Alabama 13
Oklahoma and Alabama met for a second time in as many seasons on Sept. 6, 2003, in Tuscaloosa.
Jason White returned at quarterback for the 2003 game after missing most all of the previous season with a knee injury suffered against Alabama. White, who would be awarded the Heisman Trophy that same year, completed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton late in the second quarter to give the top-ranked Sooners a 13-3 advantage at halftime.
The Crimson Tide scored a third-quarter touchdown to cut the OU lead to 13-10, but White responded with a 47-yard touchdown strike to receiver Brandon Jones later in the quarter. Alabama added a field goal in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Tide would get.
Oklahoma finished the 2003 regular season at 12-0 and as the nation's top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll. The Sooners would not win another game, however, losing 35-7 to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship and 20-14 to LSU in the BCS National Championship.
2014 Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma 45, Alabama 31
As surprising as Oklahoma's upset win over Alabama was last season, it wasn't as shocking as the Sooners' 45-31 victory over the Crimson Tide in the 2014 Sugar Bowl during the 2013 season.
Third-ranked Alabama was upset about being left out of the BCS National Championship Game that season after losing to Auburn 34-28 in the so-called "Kick-Six" Iron Bowl game that sent Auburn to the championship instead of the Crimson Tide. Some experts believed that the resulting letdown opened the door for OU to pull off the stunning upset.
Alabama, coached by Nick Saban, scored first in the game, driving 75 yards in just four plays on its opening possession to take an early 7-0 lead. The Sooners evened the score less than three minutes later. The Crimson Tide regained the lead with a first-quarter field goal before Oklahoma scored a second first-quarter touchdown to go up 14-10 after the first 15 minutes.
The lead changed hands a couple of times in the second quarter before Oklahoma broke a 17-17 tie, scoring 14 points in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 31-17 lead into the locker room. The Crimson Tide never fully recovered from that onslaught. Future NFL star Derrick Henry did his best to bring Alabama back in the second half, scoring on a 43-yard touchdown run and a 61-yard catch and run, but the cows were already out of the barn as the Sooners put a couple of touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter to close the door.
Freshman quarterback Trevor Knight made the start for Oklahoma and set a Sugar Bowl record, completing 32 passes to nine different receivers for 348 yards and four touchdowns in leading 11th-ranked Oklahoma to the improbable victory and the Sooners' third-straight win over the Crimson Tide.
2018 College Football Playoff semifinal: Alabama 45, Oklahoma 34
Five years after Oklahoma and Alabama met in the Sugar Bowl, the two teams went toe to toe again, this time in the Orange Bowl in Miami for even higher stakes in the semifinals of the 2018 College Football Playoff.
The Crimson Tide were the No. 1 playoff seed and matched against No. 4 Oklahoma. It was an uphill battle from the start for Heisman-winning quarterback Kyler Murray and the Sooners, which featured one of the country's most explosive offenses but paired with a defense that was one of the country's worst.
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the Heisman runner-up to OU's Murray, took full advantage of the Sooners' defensive difficulties, attacking the Sooners all over the field and putting up 21 unanswered points in the opening quarter. The Crimson Tide added to their lead in the second quarter and went to the locker room at halftime with a 31-10 advantage.
The Sooners fought back in the second half and pulled within 11 points twice, but could get no closer. Tagovailoa finished with 318 passing yards and four touchdowns. OU's Murray also had a good game, passing for 308 yards and a pair of touchdowns, along with 109 rushing yards. He accounted for 417 of Oklahoma's 471 total yards.
November 23, 2024: Oklahoma 24, Alabama 3
Last year's game between OU and Alabama, the first as members of the SEC, is certainly fresh on the minds of Sooner fans, but you can be assured it is also seared in the minds of the Alabama team and its fans.
Unlike the offensive pounding taken by the Sooners' defense in the 2018 College Football Playoff game, it was the Oklahoma defense that took command in last season's game between the Sooners and the Crimson Tide.
The much-improved OU defense shut down the Alabama running game and held the Crimson Tide to just 234 yards of total offense, nearly 200 yards below their season average. Former OU quarterback Jackson Arnold had the game of his career, completing nine of 11 passes and rushing for 131 yards. Running back Xavier Robinson contributed 101 additional yards on the ground. The Sooner defense also picked off three of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe's passes, one of which was returned 49 yards for a touchdown and served as the final nail in the coffin.
The Alabama win was one of just two conference wins by Oklahoma in the 2024 season.