Quick question: In Nick Saban’s nine seasons as Alabama’s head coach, what does he have more of: Iron Bowl losses or national championships?

He actually has three of each, which makes the Crimson Tide’s annual matchup with Auburn Saban’s toughest SEC rivalry game to date.

Here’s a look at Saban’s Iron Bowl history, including the good, the bad and the ugly:

2007: In Saban’s Iron Bowl debut, the Tigers extended their winning streak in the bitter rivalry to a school-record six games as Brandon Cox scored on a 1-yard sneak with 3:58 left and Auburn held on for a 17-10 win.

2008: It didn’t take Saban long to get his revenge as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 36-0 victory, which was the biggest margin in the series in 46 years.

2009: The Tide rallied behind Greg McElroy, whose 4-yard touchdown pass to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 to go secured a 26-21 win, a breakthrough victory that served as a springboard to Saban’s first national title with Alabama.

2010: For the first time, Bama lost after taking a 24-point lead, thanks to Cam Newton, who sparked Auburn to an incredible 28-27 triumph. As bad as this defeat was, it doesn’t stay the worst Iron Bowl loss of Saban’s career for very long.

2011: Trent Richardson ran for 203 yards and AJ McCarron threw three TD passes as Alabama buried Auburn 42-14. And despite losing 9-6 to LSU in overtime earlier that season, the Tide managed to reach the BCS title game, in which it blanked the Tigers 21-0 for Saban’s second national championship with Bama.

2012: Alabama, which scored on its first seven possessions, thrashed Auburn 49-0 in the second-most lopsided Iron Bowl in history behind McCarron’s 4 TD passes. The Tide went on to beat Georgia 32-28 in the SEC Championship Game before mauling Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS national title game for Saban’s second straight crown and third in four seasons.

2013: Two words: Kick-6! Time appeared to have run out in regulation before T.J. Yeldon was able to get out of bounds. Saban successfully lobbied for a second back on the clock, then sent Adam Griffith out for a 57-yard, game-winning field goal try. It came up short, and Chris Davis returned it 109 yards for the touchdown with no time left in a 34-28 win. It’s easily the worst Iron Bowl defeat of Saban’s career.

2014: Alabama rode Amari Cooper’s 3 TD catches en route to a 55-44 victory in the highest-scoring game in Iron Bowl history. The Tide mauled Missouri 42-13 in the SEC Championship Game but fell short against eventual national champion Ohio State 42-35 in the initial College Football Playoff.

Saban actually has a better record in his games against LSU as Alabama’s coach. He has won his past four games against Les Miles and the Tigers to improve his mark to 7-3. Here’s a look at how that rabid rivalry has gone since Saban took over the Tide:

2007: The Tigers scored two TDs in the final three minutes in their eventual 41-34 win. The defeat kicked off a 4-game skid for the Tide, which finished 7-6 in Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa. LSU finished 12-2, including its 38-24 victory over Ohio State in the BCS Championship Game.

2008: John Parker Wilson scored on a 1-yard sneak in OT to lift Alabama to a 27-21 victory in Saban’s first game back in Baton Rouge since 2004, his last season as head coach of the Tigers before his ill-fated stint in the NFL.

2009: Julio Jones’ 73-yard TD catch and Leigh Tiffin’s 40-yard field goal proved to be the difference as Alabama won 24-15 to clinch a spot in its second straight SEC Championship Game, where it beat Florida 32-13 before toppling Texas 37-21 for Saban’s first national title with the Tide.

2010: Stevan Ridley’s go-ahead 1-yard TD plunge in the fourth quarter lifted LSU to a 24-21 upset victory, and three weeks later, Bama fell apart in the Iron Bowl.

2011: Alabama missed four field-goal attempts and threw a goal-line interception on its way to a 9-6 overtime loss. Saban exacted his revenge a little more than two months later for his national title with the Tide.

2012: With 51 seconds left, McCarron flipped a screen pass to T.J. Yeldon, who took it 28 yards for the decisive score in Bama’s 21-17 victory. The Tide capped that season with its third national title in four years.

2013: McCarron threw for 3 scores and Yeldon rushed for 2 more as Alabama recorded its most-lopsided victory over LSU in the Saban era, a 38-17 romp. But the Kick-6 would haunt Saban and the Tide three weeks later.

2014: Blake Sims’ 6-yard TD pass to DeAndrew White in overtime lifted Alabama to a 20-13 victory, but Tide’s season eventually ended in unfulfilling fashion with its loss to the Buckeyes in the national semifinals.

2015: Derrick Henry cemented his Heisman campaign by rushing for 210 yards and 3 TDs as Bama rolled, 30-16. The Crimson Tide, which followed that victory by beating Mississippi State and Charleston Southern in ensuing weeks, has won eight straight games heading into Saturday’s game on the Plains.

And because we are Saban sadists here at Saturday Down South, we figured we would flash back to the days when he coached LSU. In his five years with the Bayou Bengals, Saban went 4-1 against Alabama:

2000:  LSU’s 30-28 victory snapped Alabama’s unbeaten streak at Tiger Stadium from 1971 through 1998. Over that stretch, the Crimson Tide’s record in Baton Rouge was 14-0-1.

2001: Behind Rohan Davey’s 524 passing yards and Josh Reed’s 19 catches for 293 yards, the Tigers stemmed the Tide, 35-21.

2002: Santonio Beard ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns as Alabama trounced the Tigers 31-0.

2003: Matt Mauck threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns in LSU’s 27-3 romp. The Tigers went on to beat Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl to give Saban his first national title.

2004: Marcus Spears’ sack and linebacker Cameron Vaughn’s ensuing scoop and score lifted LSU to the go-ahead TD in the Tigers’ 26-10 victory. On Christmas Day of that year, Saban accepted the Dolphins’ head-coaching job and went 15-17 with Miami before accepting his current position with Alabama on Jan. 3, 2007.

There you have it. Saban might not enjoy playing in SEC rivalry games, his record in the aforementioned matchups is 16-7, so he wins these contests just about 70 percent of the time.

If he beats Auburn on Saturday, he will meet his former assistant Jim McElwain in the SEC Championship Game. Who knows? Tim Tebow is no longer a Gator, but maybe Florida and Alabama can resume a rivalry that began when Urban Meyer was calling the shots in Gainesville.