In terms of sheer hatred between two college football powerhouses, the Alabama Auburn Rivalry has to rank at the top of the list. Just about everyone in the state of Alabama has to choose a side, and these games can affect how the entire year goes for some of the most passionate fans. The Auburn Alabama game, also known as The Iron Bowl, has been an even rivalry for the most part, although currently Alabama has a head to head edge. In the 2000s Auburn has dominated most matchups until 2008, when Alabama crushed the Tigers 36-0 and won for the first time at Auburn’s home field.

The name of the rivalry comes from the fact that for many years the Auburn Alabama game was played in Birmingham, a location famous for its roots in iron industry, which Pittsburgh is the only American city in which the steel industry is more ingrained. When the series was played in Birmingham, the games took place at Legion Field. Now the game alternates between the home fields of both universities. On even years the Iron Bowl is played at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, home field of Alabama, while on odd years the game takes place at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn. This is a huge series, as explained in the Fox article TRADITIONS: Auburn vs. Alabama.

The winner of the Auburn Alabama game is given the Foy-ORK Sportsmanship Award. Not only will winning the Alabama Auburn game grant the winner the trophy, but it also comes with a number of added perks. The Foy-ORK Sportsmanship Award will be presented to the winning team during half-time of the basketball game between the two teams later in the year, a game that takes place at the winner’s home stadium. Not only is the trophy awarded, but the President of the Student Government Association has to sing the opponent’s fight song. There is more at The History of the Iron Bowl Alabama vs Auburn. The name of the trophy comes from the name of James E. Foy who was an Alabama graduate as well as a former Auburn dean of students and a combination with the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society, an organization that came to both Auburn and Alabama in the 1920s.

The Alabama Auburn rivalry originated in February 22, 1893 in what attendees could not possibly have known they were witnessing history being born. Since then the game has grown to become one of the biggest in all of college football. The largest ever victory in an Iron Bowl game was Alabama 55 – Auburn 0 a game that any diehard Alabama fan can tell you came on December 4, 1948. The highest scoring game between the two teams was on November 29, 1969 when Auburn won 49 to Alabama’s 26. The lowest scoring game in the rivalry came on November 26, 1960 when there were only three points scored total, all by Alabama. As even as these teams are it is a bit surprising that they have only tied once, in 1907

In the 2000s, Auburn managed a six-year winning streak which ended in 2008 when Alabama won 36-0, a game that Auburn fans are eager to move past. The 2009 and 2010 Auburn Alabama game will be taking place on the Friday after Thanksgiving, a rare occurrence as 2009 will be only be the sixth time that the game takes place on a Friday.

The first Auburn Alabama game took place on February 22, 1893 at Lakeview Park in Birmingham when Auburn was still known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. Auburn would go on to win the first ever meeting 32-22. In a sign of the changing of the times, there were only 2,000 fans in attendance for the first ever Auburn Alabama games. This series was immediately a testy one and resulted in argument as soon as it was over. Alabama wanted to count the game as the final game of the 1892 season, while Auburn counted it as the first of the 1893 football season.

More fighting took place in 1906 and 1907, when Auburn’s coach Mike Donahue complained about the continued formations shifts that Alabama’s Doc Pollard. He even threatened to canceled the series. The Alabama Auburn went on hiatus following the 1907 season over disagreement over how much to pay the players as well as where the referees would be obtained. This Iron Bowl is so big in the region that the Alabama House of Representatives saw the need to step in. They passed a resolution asking the schools to “make possible the inauguration of a full athletic program between the two schools.” Following the resolution in 1947, the heads of the schools got to work. They chose Legion field because, with a maximum capacity of 44,000 it was the largest in the state. In the first game of the renewed series Alabama crushed Auburn 55-0 in what is still the most lopsided win in Iron Bowl history. By the end of the 1980′s Auburn had made many additions to Jordan-Hare Stadium and it eventually held more ticket holders.

Auburn petitioned to to make the Iron Bowl a home/home series, with the location of the game changing each year. The idea went through, however Alabama would play their home games at Legion Field. The first Auburn vs Alabama game that was a real home game for the Tigers took place on December 2, 1989. The sellout crown at Auburn were not disappointed as the team beat Alabama 30-20, a win that was made sweeter by the fact that Alabama was unbeaten and ranked #2.

Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium was expanded to hold up to 83,818 ticket holders in 1998, which was more than Legion Field. With this is mind Alabama moved the Auburn Alabama game to their real home field in 2000. In 2006 Bryant-Denny Stadium added even more seats to bring total attendance to 92,138 and in 2006 a new Iron Bowl attendance record was set.

Auburn’s War Eagle!

Fans that have attended an Auburn Alabama game have seen Tiger the War Eagle fly over the Stadium, one of the enduring traditions of The Iron Bowl. According to legend, the War Eagle dates all the way back to the Civil Was in 1864. Story goes that an Auburn student went to fight in

The War Eagle legend dates back 1864. An Auburn student went to fight for Robert E. Lee in Virginia. The student was left for dead after wounded during a hard battle. However the student awoke and found that a baby eagle were the only living beings on the field. He adopted the baby eagle, named it War Eagle and brought it back to Auburn, where he became faculty. Legend says that he brought the eagle to a game, and following an Auburn touchdown broke free and flew over the stadium. As Auburn students were familiar with the Eagle, they cried “War Eagle!” Auburn went on to win the game 10-0, and after the game War Eagle died. This tradition has continued, and the newest reincarnation, War Eagle VI, is named Tiger.

Other notable Auburn Alabama games

• November 26, 1964, marked the first time that the Iron Bowl was broadcast nationally in a game the featured Joe Namath leading the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 21–14 victory. That year also marked Alabama’s eighth National Championship in school history.
• “The Run in The Mud” 1967 – A game that saw such torrential rains that the field needed to continually be cleared of raincoats and other apparel that continued to blow onto the field. The game saw Alabama’s quarterback Kenny Stabler run for for a 53-yard touchdown that would give Alabama a 7–3 win over the Tigers.
• In 1971 both Auburn and Alabama were aiming for a National Championship against Nebraska. Alabama was 10-0 and ranked #4 in the AP Poll and was able to beat #5 Auburn and Heisman trophy winner Pat Sullivan 31-7.
• “Punt Bama Punt” 1972 – Auburn was trailing the game 16–3 with just six minutes left on that clock, when Auburn, a big underdog, was able to block two Alabama punts and went on to return both of them for touchdowns and were able to win the game 17–16 and handing Alabama two daggers to the hear, ending their unbeaten season and knocking them out of contention for the national title.
• The 1981 Auburn Alabama game saw Alabama Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant win career victory 315 and pass Amos Alonzo Stagg for the title of all-time winningest Division I-A.
• “Bo Over the Top” 1982 – This classic game saw Bo Jackson win the game for the Tigers with two minutes left when he jumped over the top of the pile that had formed on the one-yard line to put Auburn up 23-22. This game also broke Alabama’s nine-game winning streak and was also the last Auburn-Alabama Coach Bear Bryant would coach.
• 1989 – The true home game played at Auburn, saw the Auburn beat Alabama 30–20, a time when the Red Tide was ranked #2 and unbeaten at the time.
• 1993 – Auburn secures a perfect season when it defeats Alabama.
• 1994 – Both teams entered the Iron Bowl undefeated, so something had to give. Alabama (10-0 ) was ranked #3 AP and defeated Auburn (9–0–1 ), ranked #6 AP, 21–14.
• 1999 – Alabama beats Auburn 28–17 for their first ever win at Auburn’s home field.
• 2004 – Auburn, undefeated and ranked #3 in the AP Poll was behind 6-0 at halftime at Bryant-Denny Stadium but was able to come back to win 21-13, sealing their perfect regular season record and would go on to play Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game.
• “The Beatdown in T-town” 2008 – Auburn entered the game with a streak of six consecutive victories over Alabama, but ‘Bama was able to end the streak with a 36-0 victory.

With such incredible history between the two teams, there is not question that Auburn Alabama has to be among the top football rivalries out there right now. This is always a great game and each Iron Bowl is its own moment in history.

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