Alabama’s biggest rivalries are all within the SEC, but the Crimson Tide has history with plenty of teams across the country. We’re asking Alabama fans to vote on which nonconference program they hate the most with an eight-team bracket.
You can vote by scrolling down and on also on Twitter. Voting for this matchup will run through Tuesday night. Check back later this week for the next matchup.
Teams that just missed the bracket: Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Southern Miss, Michigan. For explanations, listen to the first segment of the podcast.
No. 3 Penn State
Football series record: Alabama leads 10-5
First round: Defeated No. 6 Georgia Tech
There have been some classic meetings between these teams, headlined by the goal line stand in the 1979 national championship game. Alabama beat Penn State in the 1975 Sugar Bowl, too.
That history led to a 10-year home-and-home series between the two teams. Alabama was 6-4 in those games, but the Nittany Lions won the last game of that run. That was a 9-0 shutout in Tuscaloosa in 1990. Penn State has as much history with Alabama as any team outside of the SEC.
There has been a healthy amount of respect from both sides when these teams met, though. Alabama’s home-and-home with Penn State in 2010 and 2011 was the last time it played a regular season nonconference game on an opponent’s campus; Alabama won both meetings.
7. Central Florida
Football series record: UCF leads 1-0
First round: Defeated No. 2 Clemson
Central Florida is a new addition to the list, and the Golden Knights might not crack the field in a season or two. But they’re here for now.
Central Florida may not have the trophy, but it has championship rings and claimed a national championship as the nation’s only undefeated team this season. It’s been one of the subjects that has come up again and again this offseason.
There is history between the football programs, and it’s not good for Alabama. Central Florida beat Alabama 40-38 in 2000 in Tuscaloosa in their lone meeting. You’d probably long moved on from that game. Alabama fans will move on from the 2017 national championship discussion eventually, too.
Which nonconference school do you hate the most?
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) May 30, 2018
