LSU-Alabama rivalry: 'First Saturday in November' by the numbers - ESPN

The No. 14 LSU Tigers will travel to face the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend, adding another chapter to a storied SEC rivalry known as the «First Saturday in November.»

Alabama enters the game undefeated in conference play and on a six game winning streak. LSU has just one conference loss, but has a chance to defeat Alabama in two straight years for the first time since the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

The rivalry between the Tigers and Crimson Tide has generated some of the top games in college football, plus NFL dominance. At the start of the 2023 NFL season, Alabama led the league with the most active players on a roster (57). LSU was tied with the Ohio State Buckeyes in third (43) behind the Georgia Bulldogs at 49.

Here are the numbers that define the rivalry between Alabama and LSU:

Saturday will be the 31st time that the Tigers and Crimson Tide have met as ranked opponents, the fourth most in FBS history behind Michigan-Ohio State, Oklahoma-Texas and Notre Dame-USC.

The two schools first met in 1895, a matchup that ended in a 12-6 win by LSU. However, Alabama leads the series with 55 wins in 87 games, including 10 in the last 12 meetings. Bear Bryant's 11 straight wins over LSU as Alabama head coach is the longest streak in the rivalry's 128-year history.

Since Nick Saban came to the Crimson Tide, he's lost to LSU in back-to-back games just once.

The veteran head coach has seen both sides of the rivalry game. He spent four seasons at LSU, helping start a stretch between 2003 and 2007 where the Tigers won five Alabama games in a row.

However, once Saban joined the Crimson Tide in 2007, it started to turn back around. Saban won two of the next five meetings before winning eight straight between 2012 and 2018, the