The Alabama Crimson Tide have dominated the SEC — and college football as a whole — for more than a decade under Nick Saban.
In terms of national championships, he won the most with seven. He arguably recruited better than anyone in college football history. He was set to reach two amazing accomplishments by 2017: Having coached the most consensus All-Americans and the most first-round selections in the NFL Draft.
Through 2012 he had a perfect record when a crystal football was on the line. He notched the most wins when ranked No. 1, and beat the team ranked No. 1 the most. He’s the only coach in the modern era to win titles with two different programs, and he’s done so while competing in a conference that was similarly at its own unique level.
Anyone with a pulse on college football understands the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers have one of the most storied rivalries in all of sports, but Alabama has had the upper hand for a long, long time.
Every year the two teams meet in a rivalry matchup known as the “Iron Bowl’ and few people could even come close to his intimate knowledge of rivalry that dates back to 1893. Saban retired with a commanding (12-5 ) record in the Alabama versus Auburn rivalry.
With his retirement, there’s a feeling that teams like Auburn could benefit greatly and finally have a chance of knocking off the Crimson Tide under new head coach Kalen DeBoer to compete for national championships.
Hugh Freeze is clearly building momentum since taking over at Auburn, but DeBoer still finished with the No. 2 recruiting class in the country so it may take a while for the Tigers to ever truly be able to go neck-and-neck with the Tide on a regular basis.
Charles Barkley, one of the most famous alumni to come out of Auburn, recently made a shocking statement that won’t sit well with fans but seems factual if you look at recent history.
Charles Barkley Admits Auburn Tigers Are The ‘Stepchild’ In Rivalry With Alabama Crimson Tide
Auburn was one 4th-and-31 away from beating Alabama in the Iron Bowl in November and just split their regular season college basketball series. But Auburn alum Charles Barkley isn’t convinced that his alma mater is anything other than the “stepchild” in their rivalry with the Crimson Tide.
Appearing on ESPN2, Barkley said that in his eyes Alabama remains the school that it seems like everyone in the state loves more than Auburn. He feels that Auburn feels compelled to beat Alabama every time just because they’re not them.
He former NBA star didn’t hold back on his feelings about the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn Tigers rivalry.
“It’s different for me because I was born in Alabama,” Barkley said, via On3. “Unless you were born in Alabama, you really can’t get an appreciation for the animosity and the hatred for Alabama. But [Alabama] is a great school. I’ve got [nothing] but admiration, they just lost the greatest college football coach ever in Coach Saban last month. Nothing but love and respect for him.”
“But if you’re born in Alabama, you have to pick a team. Whether we play them in softball, volleyball, or whatever — we want to beat them,” Barkley continued. “I know I’m going to get in trouble saying this — but we’re like the stepchild. We’re never going to be Alabama but we want to beat them every time we play them. We’re kind of like Oklahoma State, UCLA, Kansas State.”
The Alabama Crimson Tide has been the dominant force in football, let alone the Iron Bowl rivalry over the Auburn Tigers sfor years, while the basketball team has effectively closed the gap on SEC dominance under Nate Oats in recent years.
Does Charles Barkley have a point?