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The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football college rivalry game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers, both charter members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and both teams are located in the state of Alabama. The series is considered one of the most important rivalries in American sports. The rivalry, which started in 1893 and has been renewed annually since 1948, was played for many years at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. In the early 20th Century, Birmingham was the leading industrial city of the South, rivaling Pittsburgh, in the production of pig iron, coke, coal and the steel. Thus, the term "Iron Bowl" came to represent the rivalry. Auburn Coach Ralph Jordan is credited with actually coining it—when asked by reporters in 1964 how he would deal with the disappointment of not taking his team to a bowl game, he responded, "We've got our bowl game. We have it every year. It's the Iron Bowl in Birmingham."
The game was traditionally played on Thanksgiving weekend, but in 1993, the schools agreed to move the game up to the week before Thanksgiving to give themselves a bye for a potential SEC Championship Game berth after the game was introduced in the 1992 season. In 2007 the conference voted to disallow any team from having a bye before the league championship game, returning the game to its traditional Thanksgiving weekend spot.
The rivalry has long been one of the most heated collegiate rivalries in the country. It is all the more heated because the two schools have been among the nation's elite teams for most of the time since the 1950s. Together, they account for 38 SEC titles, 30 by Alabama and 8 by Auburn. Both are among the most successful programs in major college football history; Alabama is third in all-time total wins among Division I FBS schools while Auburn is 13th. The two schools have been fixtures on national television since the late 1970s; the only time since then that the season-ending clash has not been nationally televised was in 1993, when Auburn was barred from live TV due to NCAA sanctions. Alabama leads the series with a record of 51–37–1.
For much of the 20th century, the game was played every year in Birmingham, with Alabama winning 34 games and Auburn 18. Four games were played in Montgomery, Alabama, with each team winning two.Staff (2016) "The Iron Bowl—wins and losses through the years" WSFA website In Birmingham's Legion Field, tickets were evenly divided between the two schools. In even years, Alabama was designated as home team and Auburn was the home team in odd-numbered years. Auburn broke with tradition in 1989, opting to move the game to its home stadium for the first time. The Tigers agreed to play one additional game as home team in Birmingham in 1991 before moving its home games permanently to Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn beginning in 1993. Alabama continued scheduling its home games in the series in Birmingham through the 1998 season before moving its home games to Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa permanently beginning in 2000.
During the 1870s, Auburn (then named the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama) which received no appropriated funds from the state, was on the edge of financial collapse. Collapse of Auburn meant that the University of Alabama could assume the remaining land scripts, thus profiting from the closure of the new land-grant college. The University of Alabama remained closed till 1871 following the Civil War, during which it was partially destroyed by Union forces. (1983). 9780817301194, University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817301194 "By 1877, competition between the University of Alabama and the Agricultural & Mechanical College for patronage had intensified. In January, Auburn President Isaac Tichenor reported to the board of trustees that Alabama had reduced its tuition and lowered its graduation standards. Tichenor responded by requesting that the board drop tuition and create a boarding department to further lower expenses." The University of Alabama had developed a reciprocal interest in the Alabama Coal Operators Association along with their “ Big Mule” allies with vast timber holdings across the Black Belt of Alabama.
Alabama and Auburn played their first football game in Lakeview Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 22, 1893. Auburn won 32–22, before an estimated crowd of 5,000. Alabama considered the game to be the final matchup of the 1892 season while Auburn recorded it as the first matchup of 1893.
In 1902, a bill was introduced into both houses of the U.S. Congress to fund the creation of a "School of Mines and Mining Engineering" at each land-grant college. Under the provision of the bill, each participating land-grant college would receive $5,000 annually with $500 each additional year for 10 years. The University of Alabama secretly sent Professor Dr. Eugene Smith to lobby against passage of the bill or to amend the bill to allow other universities to participate in the federal program. Auburn responded by sending Professor C.C. Thach to D.C. to lobby with the Association of Land-Grant Colleges for a compromise to allow passage of the bill. The bill would later fail to receive passage.
During the 1907 state legislature session, a debate surfaced to move the land-grant college from Auburn to Birmingham.
One constant during the rivalry hiatus was Auburn's Mike Donahue. Donahue became a fixture at Auburn, coaching football from 1904 to 1922 along with basketball from 1905 to 1921 while also ascending to the position of athletic director. The first basketball game between Auburn and Alabama was by chance occurring in 1924 in the Southern Conference Tournament. This would be the only basketball matchup till 1941 which again was by chance in another conference tournament.
During the 1930s and into the 1940s while the football rivalry was in hiatus, Auburn under the leadership of President Luther Duncan, became the administrative home for several New Deal agencies: the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Soil Conservation Service, and the Resettlement Administration. The federal Government funding flowing into Auburn soon drew the ire of the University of Alabama trustees and their partisans in the Alabama Legislature. President Duncan was able to influence the placement of these agencies at Auburn due to his support for Governor Bibb Graves. Both the president and the governor supported the New Deal faction of the Democratic Party in Alabama. Graves was well connected in Washington D.C., with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and often lobbied in D.C. on "plum-tree-shaking expeditions". Meanwhile, Duncan with his connections in the Alabama Farm Bureau and as the director of the Extension Service exercised great control over the organized farm vote. By the mid-1940s, the Democratic Party was splintering in Alabama, with the rise of the Dixiecrats and those who remained loyal to the national party. One of the most outspoken critics of Auburn was publisher Harry Ayers, who would later endorse Harry Truman in 1945. In 1940 Duncan had successfully opposed Ayers' candidacy as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which deeply offended the publisher. The Anniston editor had been a long-time advocate of consolidating Auburn and Alabama, "so that Auburn would become the dangling tail of a Tuscaloosa kite". In August 1942, President Duncan wrote to Raymond Paty, the newly appointed president of the University of Alabama, that the relationship between their two schools was "of such magnitude and gravity" that he had given the question more attention than any other problem he faced as president. He urged Paty that Auburn and Alabama should agree upon a funding formula that would give each institution the same appropriation per in-state student, an idea which worked against the University of Alabama's self-image as the state's capstone university.
During a 1945 legislative session, the University of Alabama's report to the commission (Alabama Educational Survey Commission) argued that the Tuscaloosa school had well-established and broad responsibilities for higher education in the state. Four times in Alabama history, higher education responsibilities had been delegated to other institutions. In three of the four cases, this occurred under a state government established during the Reconstruction period: creation of the normal schools, higher education for blacks, and establishment of the land-grant college at Auburn. The fourth case was the state women's college at Montevallo. In each case, this was argued to have resulted from "the illogic inherent in the evolution of a democratic government". The Alabama report drew a sharp response from then Auburn President Luther Duncan, who said that he had never seen "a bolder, more deliberate, more vicious, or more deceptive document". He predicted that if the friends of Auburn and Montevallo did not rise up to combat "this evil monster", it would consume them "just like the doctrine of Hitler". Duncan also remarked that according to Alabama, "Auburn is the illegitimate children... born out of the misery of the Reconstruction period."
By 1945, with the end of World War II, the GI Bill had inundated Auburn (then officially named the Alabama Polytechnic Institute), with students—doubling enrollment twice between 1944 and 1948. With the increased enrollment, it was now obvious that Auburn would never "become so weak that... it could be absorbed" by the University of Alabama.
In March 1947, the Auburn Board of Trustees, with Governor Jim Folsom in attendance, unanimously approved the following resolution, "Whereas, The Alabama Polytechnic Institute and the University of Alabama are important educational institutions of the State of Alabama and are maintained and operated by the people of the State; and Whereas, many years ago athletic relationship between the Alabama Polytechnic Institute and the University of Alabama was discontinued; and Whereas, intercollegiate rivalry between the two institutions would be conducive to a better understanding among students of both schools and would tend to promote interest in athletic engagements in Alabama, therefore Be It Resolved by the Board of Trustees of Alabama Polytechnic Institute in meeting assembled, that the President of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, through its Athletic Director, make necessary negotiation with the Director of Athletics of the University of Alabama to resume athletic competition between the two institutions at the earliest possible date, and that a copy of this resolution be furnished to the President and Athletic Director of the University of Alabama." The Governor then suggested that the game be played not later than the first Saturday in December 1947. Also during 1947, the Alabama House of Representatives passed a resolution encouraging both universities to "make possible the inauguration of a full athletic program between the two schools". But the resolution did not have the effect of law, the schools still could not agree, the Legislature threatened to withhold state funding. In April 1948, Alabama president John Gallalee and Auburn president Ralph B. Draughon met and agreed to renew the series in 1948 and for the following 1949 season.
It was agreed that the games would be played as a neutral site series in Birmingham. Legion Field held 47,000 fans in 1948, dwarfing both Tuscaloosa's Denny Stadium (31,000) and Auburn Stadium (15,000; expanded to 21,500 and renamed Cliff Hare Stadium in 1949). Also, it is believed Alabama refused to travel to Auburn, citing poor roads and the small size of Hare Stadium. Alabama was joined in this sentiment by the Tennessee Volunteers (who refused to play in Auburn until 1974) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (who did not travel to Auburn from 1900 to 1970). Auburn played its last home game at Legion Field, outside of the Iron Bowl, in 1978 against Tennessee.
Between 1969 and 1987, Auburn made additions to Jordan-Hare Stadium until it eclipsed Legion Field in size. Auburn was in the process of expanding Jordan-Hare Stadium from 72,169 seats to 85,214 for the 1987 season, almost 10,000 more than 75,808-seat Legion Field. (Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium then seated a little over 60,000, but expanded to 70,123 in 1988.) By the late 1970s, Auburn fans began feeling chagrin at playing all Iron Bowl games at Legion Field. Despite the equal allotment of tickets, Auburn fans insisted that Legion Field was not a neutral site. While Auburn played many of their most important rivalry games in Birmingham for most of the 20th century (among those were Georgia Tech and Tennessee), Legion Field had long been associated with Alabama football in Auburn's eyes. Well into the 1980s, Alabama played most of its important games in Birmingham—most of Alabama's "home" football history from the 1920s to the 1980s actually took place at Legion Field. Mainly for business reasons, Auburn began lobbying to make the Iron Bowl a "home-and-home" series. When Pat Dye became Auburn's head football coach and athletics director in 1981, he met with his longtime mentor, Alabama head coach and athletic director Bear Bryant. Dye recalled that at that meeting, "the first thing he said to me, very first thing, he said, 'Well, I guess you're going to want to take that game to Auburn.'" Dye confirmed that hunch, saying, "We're going to take it to Auburn." When Bryant noted that the schools' contract with Legion Field ran through 1988, Dye replied, "Well, we'll play 89 in Auburn." Although Auburn would have possibly been within its rights to move its home games to Jordan-Hare as early as 1983, Dye knew that Bryant was adamantly opposed to playing any Iron Bowl games in Auburn. He knew Bryant's standing in the state was such that it would be folly to attempt making the Iron Bowl a home-and-home series as long as Bryant was still alive.
In the late 80s, the schools agreed that Auburn could play their home games for the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare starting in 1989 (with the exception of 1991) and Alabama would continue to play its "home" games at Legion Field. On December 2, 1989, Alabama came to "the Plains" for the first time ever as a sellout crowd witnessed Auburn win its first true "home" game of the series, 30–20 over an Alabama team that entered the game undefeated and ranked No.2 in the country.
Alabama continued to hold its home games for the rivalry at Legion Field. In 1998, Alabama expanded Bryant–Denny Stadium to a capacity of 83,818, narrowly eclipsing Legion Field. Alabama then began moving most of its more important home games to Tuscaloosa, and finally their Iron Bowl home games to Bryant–Denny Stadium in 2000. That year, Auburn came to Tuscaloosa for the first time since 1901 and won in a defensive struggle, 9–0. A new attendance record for the Iron Bowl was set in 2006 as the latest expansion to Bryant–Denny Stadium increased its capacity to 92,138. The record was reset again in 2010, after another expansion to Alabama's Bryant–Denny Stadium, when a crowd of 101,821 witnessed a 28–27 Auburn victory.
| Birmingham | 53 | 34 | 18 | 1 | 1893, 1902–1998 |
| Auburn | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 1989, 1993–present |
| Tuscaloosa | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1895, 1901, 2000–present |
| Montgomery | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1893, 1894, 1900, 1903 |
| 1800s | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Alabama 56– Auburn 120 |
| 1900s | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | Alabama 74– Auburn 134 |
| 1940s | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Alabama 68–Auburn 14 |
| 1950s | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | Alabama 115– Auburn 156 |
| 1960s | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | Alabama 222–Auburn 95 |
| 1970s | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | Alabama 300–Auburn 132 |
| 1980s | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | Alabama 193– Auburn 195 |
| 1990s | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | Alabama 208–Auburn 155 |
| 2000s | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | Alabama 179–Auburn 170 |
| 2010s | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | Alabama 371–Auburn 240 |
| 2020s | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Alabama 170–Auburn 100 |
| Kalen DeBoer | 1 | 2024–present | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Nick Saban | 17 | 2007–2023 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0.705 |
| Mike Shula | 4 | 2003–2006 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Dennis Franchione | 2 | 2001–2002 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Mike DuBose | 4 | 1997–2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Gene Stallings | 7 | 1990–1996 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.714 |
| Bill Curry | 3 | 1987–1989 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Ray Perkins | 4 | 1983–1986 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Bear Bryant | 25 | 1958–1982 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0.760 |
| Jennings B. Whitworth | 3 | 1955–1957 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Harold Drew | 7 | 1947–1954 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.714 |
| J. W. H. Pollard | 2 | 1906–1909 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.750 |
| Jack Leavenworth | 1 | 1905 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| W. A. Blount | 2 | 1903–1904 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Eli Abbott | 5 | 1893–1895, 1902 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.200 |
| M. S. Harvey | 1 | 1901 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Malcolm Griffin | 1 | 1900 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Hugh Freeze | 2 | 2023–present | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Cadillac Williams | 1 | 2022 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Bryan Harsin | 1 | 2021–2022 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Gus Malzahn | 8 | 2013–2020 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.375 |
| Gene Chizik | 4 | 2009–2012 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 |
| Tommy Tuberville | 10 | 1999–2008 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0.700 |
| Bill Oliver | 1 | 1998 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Terry Bowden | 5 | 1993–1998 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 |
| Pat Dye | 12 | 1981–1992 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Doug Barfield | 5 | 1976–1980 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Ralph Jordan | 25 | 1951–1975 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 0.360 |
| Earl Brown | 3 | 1948–1950 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 |
| Willis Kienholz | 1 | 1907 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Mike Donahue | 3 | 1904–1906 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 |
| William Penn Bates | 1 | 1903 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| M. S. Harvey | 1 | 1902 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Walter H. Watkins | 2 | 1900–1901 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| John Heisman | 1 | 1895–1899 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Forrest M. Hall | 1 | 1894 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| George Roy Harvey | 1 | 1893 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| D. M. Balliet | 1 | 1893 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
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