How many Rose Bowl wins does Alabama football have? Full history
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Alabama football knows what it means to play in the Rose Bowl.
Yes, Alabama has ample West Coast ties on its coaching staff. Yes, the Crimson Tide has 15 California players on its roster including Zabien Brown,Dijon Lee, Domani Jackson and Kaleb Edwards.
But the Crimson Tide knows there’s something more than just geographic connections. The Rose Bowl is just special.
“Obviously the game itself and what it means, our opportunity to continue to take the next step,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said.
And while this is DeBoer’s first trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, Alabama is no stranger to this game. The Crimson Tide has played in more Rose Bowls than any team outside of the Big Ten or Pac-12, winning five of its eight total appearances.
Here’s a look at Alabama’s history in the Rose Bowl.
Jan. 1, 1926: Alabama 20, Washington 19
The one that started it all happened 100 years ago. Alabama’s first Rose Bowl appearance gave the Crimson Tide its first national championship, and brought Alabama to a national stage it would stay on indefinitely.
Trailing 12-0 after the first half against Washington, one that included two first-half extra-point misses, Alabama surged back using scores by Pooley Hubert,Johnny Mack Brown from Grant Gillis and another Brown score from Hubert. And even with a late Washington score, the Crimson Tide held on for its first national title.
Jan. 1, 1927: Alabama 7, Stanford 7
Alabama was just as dominant in 1926 after securing its first national championship in 1925. The Crimson Tide used another undefeated regular season to earn a second-straight Rose Bowl bid.
This edition of the Rose Bowl Game was the first national radio broadcast of a sporting event. Fans nationwide were treated to a 7-7 tie where Alabama answered a 5-yard, first-quarter George Bogue touchdown pass to Ed Walker — with less than four minutes left in the game — with a 1-yard touchdown run by Jimmy Johnson. Stanford and Alabama were ruled as co-national champions.
Jan. 1, 1931: Alabama 24, Washington State 0
In Wallace Wade’s final game as Alabama football coach before leaving for Duke, the Crimson Tide continued to dominate as it did through its undefeated 1930 regular season.
After allowing 13 points in 10 regular season games, Alabama shut out Washington State and scored 21 of its 24 points in a six-minute period in the second quarter. Wade started his second-team players to start the game, and allowed the second-team to finish from the third quarter onward.
Jan. 1, 1935: Alabama 29, Stanford 13
Alabama’s first Rose Bowl trip without Wade completed another undefeated season for the Crimson Tide.
Led by Frank Thomas, the Crimson Tide used stars Dixie Howell, “the human howitzer from Hartford, Ala.,” per Grantland Rice, and Don Hutson to blast Stanford 29-13. Twenty two points were scored in a second quarter where the Crimson Tide had 150 passing yards and 106 rushing yards, most of which came from the Hutson and Howell tandem.
Jan. 1, 1938: Cal 13, Alabama 0
The recipe to get to the Rose Bowl remained the same for the Crimson Tide in 1937: a dominant and undefeated regular season where the Alabama defense allowed 20 total points in nine games.
But Cal shut the Crimson Tide down in its first Rose Bowl loss. Cal running back Vic Bottari scored both of the Golden Bears’ touchdowns to hand Alabama its first loss in Pasadena.
Jan. 1, 1946: Alabama 34, USC 14
Like Wade, Frank Thomas ended his final season as Alabama coach with a Rose Bowl win.
Alabama beat USC 34-14, holding onto a 20-0 first-half lead where USC had 21 plays for a loss of 24 yards. The Trojans failed to record a first down until the third quarter.
Alabama finished the game with 351 yards compared to the Trojans’ 41.
Jan. 1, 2021: Alabama 31, Notre Dame 14
Alabama’s most recent national championship win came after a win against Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl.
Alabama dominated Notre Dame for a 31-14 win in the 2020 College Football Playoff semifinal, one where Mac Jones connected with DeVonta Smith for three touchdowns and the Crimson Tide defense bent to allow 375 yards and 24 first downs, but only two touchdowns.
Alabama ended its 2020 season with a 52-24 win against Ohio State in the CFP National Championship.
Jan. 1, 2024: Michigan 27, Alabama 20 OT
Alabama’s most recent trip to Pasadena ended in heartbreak.
Holding onto a 20-13 lead with less than six minutes to go, Alabama allowed a 4-yard Michigan score from J.J. McCarthy to Roman Wilson to force overtime. And after a 17-yard Blake Corum score in the first overtime period, Jalen Milroe was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-goal at the Michigan 2-yard line.
Like Wade and Thomas before him, Nick Saban’s last game of his coaching career came in the Rose Bowl.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football Rose Bowl record, Crimson Tide history in Pasadena
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