Nick Saban took over the Alabama program back in 2007. After a rough first year, he turned the Crimson Tide into one of the strongest dynasties in college football history.

With a record 7 national championships to his name (6 at Alabama and 1 at LSU), Saban will go down as one of the greatest coaches of all time in any sport. His impact on college football will be felt for a long time as a slew of his former assistants vie to fill his massive shoes.

But that’s not what this article is about. This article is going to look at the lucky teams that were able to defeat Saban-coached Alabama squads.

Considering Saban went 201-29 in his time in Tuscaloosa, it’s not going to be a very long list. But, nonetheless, here’s a look at all 29 teams that managed to defeat Saban while he was at Alabama:

  • 2007: No. 22 Georgia 26, No. 16 Alabama 23 (OT)
  • 2007: Florida State 21, No. 22 Alabama 14
  • 2007: No. 3 LSU 41, No. 17 Alabama 34
  • 2007: Mississippi State 17, No. 21 Alabama 12
  • 2007: Louisiana-Monroe 21, Alabama 14
  • 2007: No. 25 Auburn 17, Alabama 10
  • 2008: No. 2 Florida 31, No. 1 Alabama 20
  • 2008: No. 7 Utah 31, No. 4 Alabama 17
  • 2010: No. 19 South Carolina 35, No. 1 Alabama 21
  • 2010: No. 10 LSU 24, No. 5 Alabama 21
  • 2010: No. 2 Auburn 28, No. 11 Alabama 27
  • 2011: No. 1 LSU 9, No. 2 Alabama 6 (OT)
  • 2012: No. 15 Texas A&M 29, No. 1 Alabama 24
  • 2013: No. 4 Auburn 34, No. 1 Alabama 28
  • 2013: No. 11 Oklahoma 45, No. 3 Alabama 31
  • 2014: No. 11 Ole Miss 23, No. 3 Alabama 17
  • 2014: No. 4 Ohio State 42, No. 1 Alabama 35
  • 2015: No. 15 Ole Miss 43, No. 2 Alabama 37
  • 2016: No. 2 Clemson 35, No. 1 Alabama 31
  • 2017: No. 6 Auburn 26, No. 1 Alabama 14
  • 2018: No. 2 Clemson 44, No. 1 Alabama 16
  • 2019: No. 2 LSU 46, No. 3 Alabama 41
  • 2019: No. 15 Auburn 48, No. 5 Alabama 45
  • 2021: Texas A&M 41, No. 1 Alabama 38
  • 2021: No. 3 Georgia 33, No. 1 Alabama 18
  • 2022: No. 6 Tennessee 52, No. 3 Alabama 49
  • 2022: No. 10 LSU 32, No. 6 Alabama 31 (OT)
  • 2023: No. 11 Texas 34, No. 3 Alabama 24
  • 2023: No. 1 Michigan 27, No. 4 Alabama 20 (OT)

(NOTE: The years listed represent the year the regular season was played, not the calendar year in the case of some of the bowl losses.)

That’s it. That’s the list. For a guy who coached at Alabama for 17 years, to average fewer than 2 losses per season is absolutely insane.

Though there will be plenty of great coaches like Kirby Smart vying for some of Saban’s records over the next couple of decades, it will be a long time before anyone comes close to matching the résumé of Saban, who is undoubtedly the GOAT of college football coaches. He had 6 national titles at Alabama and 9 SEC championships.

How did Alabama land Nick Saban back in 2007? Check out Saturday Down South’s amazing “38 Days” feature on how the Tide pulled off the heist that changed college football forever.