Tag: Bryant-Denny Stadium

Alabama honors Nick Saban by naming Bryant-Denny field after ex-coach

Alabama will honor Nick Saban on Sept. 7

Alabama will honor former coach Nick Saban on Sept. 7 when the Crimson Tide play South Florida.

The school announced the honor on Friday. Saban retired this offseason after an incredible run as coach of the Crimson Tide.

He took over in 2007 and went 201–29 (. 878), with 23 bowl game appearances, 16 victories, 10 SEC West titles, nine SEC championships, and six national championships.

“We are humbled that The University of Alabama has honored us with the naming of Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium,” Saban said. “The remarkable success that the football program has achieved over the past 17 years is a reflection of the hard work of many student-athletes, coaches and staff. Being leader of the process at Alabama has been the greatest privilege of my life. Terry and I are grateful for the naming of Saban Field, which forever celebrates our accomplishments.”

Alabama Board of Trustees expected to vote on renaming the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium

What are your thoughts on “Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium” to honor the recently-retired head coach?

After 17 years with the Alabama Crimson Tide football program, Nick Saban retired with one of the most impressive resumés in the history of college football. While he remains connected with the university and is active on various television broadcasts, he is expected to be honored in a very special way.

Alabama’s home is Bryant-Denny Stadium, named after legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and long-time president of the University, George Denny. However, recent reporting from Tony Tsoukalas of Tide Illustrated reveals that the school’s Board of Trustees is expected to vote on a resolution to rename the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium after Saban.

“Alabama is set to dedicate the field inside Bryant-Denny Stadium to the former head coach during a ceremony on Sept. 7,” reports Tsoukalas. “While Bryant-Denny Stadium will still keep its name, the playing surface inside is now expected to be referred to as Nick Saban Field.”

This honor is well deserved, as Saban finished his career at Alabama with six national championships, a slew of other awards and titles, as well as an overall record of 201-29 with the Crimson Tide.

Roll Tide Wire will cotninue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Did EA Sports get the ‘toughest stadium’ rankings wrong?

EA Sports revealed its rankings of the toughest stadiums to play in College Football 25, but did they swing and miss?

As the July 19, 2024 release date approaches for the highly-anticipated EA Sports College Football 25 video game, more information continues to come out. The latest batch of information to be revealed was a ranking for the toughest stadiums to play in.

The top 10 features expected programs, such as the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.

While it’s tough to argue over the facts that these programs certainly belong in the top 10, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where they belong in the rankings.

What has stirred some debate, however, is the No. 1 overall spot, which belongs to the Texas A&M Aggies. Some fans and experts aren’t convinced that Kyle Field is actually the toughest stadium for visiting teams.

Though it certainly is tough, as evidenced by the sheer size of the stadium and impact the loud fans have on the game, is it more difficult to play there than anywhere else?

Patrick Conn of the College Sports Wire argues that LSU and Alabama would probably be the more appropriate pick. He backed it up with statistics.

“Two other teams that hail from the SEC have been more dominating at home than the Aggies and they were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 on EA Sports’ list. The LSU Tigers have finished with seven seasons with an unblemished home record since 2004.

“The Alabama Crimson Tide have 10 seasons with an unblemished home record since 2007, the year that Nick Saban took over the program. Under the guidance of Saban, the Tide were 108-9 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Now that is some home dominance.”

Conn acknowledges that EA Sports respects the Tigers and Tide by having them ranked immediately behind Kyle Field. However, he points to the fact that, when it comes down to it, visiting teams have a harder time playing in Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge than they do in College Station.

Additionally, Conn states that Texas A&M has only had one perfect season in games played at Kyle Field since 2000, which was during the pandemic with a reduced schedule and little-to-no fans in the seats.

Overall, this isn’t to say Kyle Field isn’t one of the most daunting environments to play in as a visiting team. It’s just a matter of asking the question of if Kyle Field is the most daunting environments to play in as a visiting team.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Fox Sports Joel Klatt ranks Bryant-Denny Stadium as a top 5 environment in CFB

Joel Klatt of Fox Sports ranks the top five environments in all of college football

While the NFL is the king of American sports with an average of over 17.9 million viewers per game, there are still a few things that will forever prevent it from being as great as college football. What makes college so special compared to the professional level is the passion and traditions. Especially for schools like the Alabama Crimson Tide as they are the de facto professional time with no NFL teams in the state of Alabama.

Having a stadium full of active students and alumni screaming passionately and singing a fight song is just something that will never exist in the NFL. For example, there is nothing in the NFL that compares to playing in front of a white-out crowd of 106,000 people in prime time in Beaver Stadium.

Including Beaver Stadium and Penn State Nittany Lions, Fox Sports college football expert Joel Klatt broke down his five toughest environments in college football on ‘The Joel Klatt Show.’ Klatt ranked Bryant-Denny Stadium, home of the Crimson Tide, No. 3 on the list behind only Penn State and LSU Tigers, but ahead of Clemson Tigers and Oregon Ducks.

Klatt said what makes Alabama such a difficult environment is, “I think ‘Bama is intimidating for a lot of different reasons. One, it’s Alabama. Two, there’s 100,000. Three, they just don’t generally lose there.”

The fans and the daunting environment they present at Bryant-Denny Stadium could be a huge factor for the 2024 Alabama football team, led by a new head coach with a new-look roster that’s looking to tackle a tough regular season schedule.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow all things Alabama football news as the 2024 college football season approaches.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Alabama shares Kalen DeBoer’s exciting debut in Bryant-Denny Stadium

Want to know what Kalen DeBoer’s first A-Day spring game was like? Well Alabama brought fans behind the scenes. Check it out!

The University of Alabama Football‘s social media account recently released a video highlighting Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer’s coaching debut with the Crimson Tide.

The video goes in-depth on DeBoer’s day as it begins with a press conference where DeBoer elaborates on the spring game. Then, it shows DeBoer speaking with former Alabama running back Trent Richardson prior to meeting with the Tide Pride group prior to the permanent team captain ceremony held annually at Denny Chimes.

Overall, it was exciting to experience DeBoer’s debut as the head coach at the University of Alabama through a first-hand lens. DeBoer has a lot of eyes on him, so it was interesting to see how he interacted with the fans, the media, and the team on this very special day.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama football program.

Alabama is still Alabama, even if it doesn’t feel like it

Alabama isn’t the dominant version of itself that we’ve seen for most of the last decade and a half. They’re still Alabama, though.

When Alabama lost at home to Texas in Week 2, people were ready to bury the Crimson Tide dynasty.

Fast forward a month. Alabama hasn’t lost since. They’re winning the same way Saban has always won at Alabama, with great defense and a stout running game.

After surrendering 34 points against the Longhorns on Sept. 9, no one has scored more than 20 on the Tide. Texas A&M scored that over the weekend, but was limited to a single field goal in the second half.

Jalen Milroe isn’t going to wow you with his arm, but everyone has to respect him with his ability to scramble and make defenders miss, and he can throw the deep ball with the best of them.

Bryant-Denny Stadium has been a house of horrors for Arkansas the entire Saban era. The Razorbacks haven’t won there since 2003 and haven’t beaten a Saban-coached team since he was at LSU the year prior.

So no, Alabama probably isn’t going to beat anyone 59-0 this year like they’ve done for much of the last decade-plus.

But they’re still Alabama. The Tide controls its own destiny for both the SEC West and a trip to the Playoff.

Arkansas to face Alabama at 11 a.m. on October 14

Arkansas will have to set the alarm clocks for its game with Alabama in Tuscaloosa the week after next.

Arkansas will play another early game, the second of the year after Saturday’s Southwest Classic kicked off at the same time.

It was announced on Monday that the Razorbacks and the Tide will square off at ESPN at 11 a.m.

This is the earliest Arkansas has ever played Alabama in Tuscaloosa. There were some 11:30 a.m. games during the Jefferson Pilot days, but never this early.

Arkansas hasn’t won in Bryant-Denny Stadium since a double overtime victory in 2003, 34-31 when Chris Balseiro made a field goal after Brodie Croyle was picked off by Jimarr Gallon.

The Razorbacks haven’t defeated Alabama period since 2006, also an overtime victory, and their last win over a Nick Saban-coached team was in 2002 which became known as the ‘Miracle on Markham,’ a come-from-behind 21-20 win over LSU.

Alabama football to play in some of the most hostile environments in 2023

Alabama football will play in three of the most hostile environments of the 2023 season

The Georgia Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and it is imperative that Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide get back to the top of the mountain in 2023. However, it will be no cakewalk of a season for the Crimson Tide as they will have to go through some of the most hostile environments in all of college football.

Week in and week out, playing in the SEC poses difficulties of its own. Last season, the SEC nearly set an all-time attendance record as they averaged just shy of 77,000 fans a game as well as being host to the most talented players in all of America. Bryant-Denny Stadium is one of the most intimidating venues to play at in all of college football, and home-field advantage does play as a massive advantage, especially for the Crimson Tide who haven’t lost at home since 2019.

Brad Crawford of 247 Sports predicted college football’s loudest games for 2023, and the Crimson Tide will feature in three of the games on the list of 17.

Kyle Field for Alabama at Texas A&M is No. 11 on the list,

“One of the loudest venues in college football, Kyle Field’s top will come off for the second time in three years if the Aggies upset Alabama again in College Station. Two years ago, Texas A&M’s thrilling victory over the Crimson Tide was a sight to behold at field level.”

Bryant-Denny Stadium for Texas at Alabama is No. 8 on the list with Crawford saying,

“You could insert LSU-Alabama in November in this slot, too, but there’s something about Texas in Week 2 and the Crimson Tide’s opportunity to prove a point to college football that’s going to make this one extremely loud. Fans are lucky to get this soon-to-be-SEC matchup a year early, college football fans. An early preview of what we expect to see in the new league for 2024 and beyond, two national title contenders do battle in Week 2 to highlight a robust early-season slate. Alabama can get some of its swagger back if it’s able to take out the Longhorns and former Crimson Tide play-caller Steve Sarkisian. Bryant Denny is loud when the fans are interested and this game will have all the trimmings of a heavyweight bout.”

Jordan Hare Stadium for Alabama at Auburn is No. 3 on the list saying,

“The Iron Bowl always holds significance. On the decibels scale, few places are louder than Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium when the Tigers are a national power. Part of the reason Auburn hired former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze to lead the program is due to his personal success against Nick Saban’s Alabama and he gets another crack at the greatest coach of all time in 2023. If the Tigers still have a heartbeat when this one’s played, The Plains will be extremely loud and boisterous when the Crimson Tide come to town.”

The 2023 season is approaching and Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the offseason winds down.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Ranking the longest active home winning streaks in college football

Ranking the longest active home winning streaks in college football!

The thing that separates college football from any other sport in America is the intensity of the fan base and the electricity of the environment. There is nothing quite like attending an SEC prime-time game under the lights, you can quite literally feel the crowd screaming for big third-down stops in the fourth quarter. It is pandemonium. Which is why defending your home turf is essential if you want to achieve any sort of success.

The record for most consecutive home wins is currently held by the Miami Hurricanes with 58 spanning from 1985 to 1994. They broke the record of 57 which was previously set by Alabama between the years of 1963-1982.

Clemson had been closing in on the record with 40 wins from 2016 to 2022, but South Carolina upset them 31-30 in Memorial Stadium to snap the streak.

Who now have the five longest active streaks?

Alabama football announces start times for remaining non-conference matchups

Alabama football has announced kick times for the remainder of the Crimson Tide’s non-conference opponents in 2023!

The 2023 season is a crucial one for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide after missing out on the playoffs last season. The Tide will face one of the toughest schedules in the country with two new coordinators and a quarterback.

Alabama already announced that their non-conference game against Texas will be in primetime at 6:00 p.m. CST on ESPN. Today, the Tide announced the kickoff times for their three remaining non-SEC games.

Middle Tennessee comes to Bryant Denny Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. kick-off under the lights on Sept. 2. Then, the Tide travel to Southern Florida for a 2:30 p.m. start against the Bulls on Sept. 19. Finally, the Tide will host Chattanooga at 11 a.m. on Nov. 18, the week leading up to the Iron Bowl.

The Longhorns will without a doubt be the toughest test for the Tide of those four games, but it is imperative Alabama doesn’t drop any games outside of SEC play. Texas gave Alabama a scare in 2022, but with it back in Tuscaloosa now, the game will be really interesting.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.