Nearly 12 years ago, I was walking into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans with three of my best buddies. The occasion was the Sugar Bowl, pitting my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide versus the Oklahoma Sooners.
Before I finish my story, let me set this up for you. This was the game directly after the Kick Six in Auburn, and perhaps a trip to The Big Easy versus a patsy Big 12 team (at least, that was our mindset at the time) would be just that – The Big Easy – and would cure what ailed us.
Boy, were we wrong.
I should have known that what happened on the way to the stadium was a portent for things to come. Somehow while negotiating a cab and walking to the stadium, two of our tickets fell out of my coat pocket and we had to purchase two replacements from scalpers outside the stadium. As trying as that was (I thought one of my buddies was going to take a swing at me) that was not as much of a disaster as what happened inside the Superdome, as Trevor Knight (348 yards, 4 turkeys) and the Sooners carved up the vaunted Tide defense for 45 points en route to a two-touchdown victory.
I remember the four of us, sitting at a diner eating breakfast food at 1 a.m., lamenting over our three scrambled and wondering how a season with so much promise had gone completely in the toilet.
Don’t get me wrong: I had great respect for the Oklahoma tradition, its fans traveled exceptionally well, but I didn’t fathom that the Sooners might actually win the game.
Then they won the game.
Now back up 12 more years, to 2002. Alabama is in its second year under head coach Dennis Franchione and is playing at Oklahoma on September 7. The Tide is down 30-27 but in Sooner territory and driving for a potential winning score. Unfortunately, ‘Bama quarterback Tyler Watts fumbles and Oklahoma’s Eric Bassey scoops up the ball and marches into the end zone.
Final: Oklahoma 37, Alabama 27.
After the game, I, an adult male of 25 years of age, cried.
I could go on for a little while longer about how, save for two ballgames (1962, 2018) Oklahoma has pretty much controlled the history of this series. The Sooners now own a two-game win streak, they dominated the Tide last year in Norman by a score of 24-3 and marched into Tuscaloosa on November 15 of this year to steal a big one on the Tide’s home turf.
My text message to a buddy of mine after the game: Oklahoma owns us.
His response: 1000000%
Even the game in 2018 ended in a tight margin after Alabama marched out to a 21-0 lead. Quarterback Kyler Murray nearly led the Sooners back to a victory and I remember sweating and feeling intense fourth quarter anxiety after those weird turn of events in Miami Gardens, Fla., that concluded in a 45-34 squeaker for the Tide.
While Alabama has fared well against traditional powerhouses, the Tide has a 2-5-1 all-time record against Oklahoma, has never won in Norman, and has never won a regular-season game against the Sooners (both wins were in the Miami metro area during bowl season). Conversely, Oklahoma has won both meetings in Tuscaloosa and both meetings in Norman. The lone tie in the series came in the 1970 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl when Paul W. Bryant’s Crimson Tide met Chuck Fairbanks’ Sooners.
Now the Tide must travel back to Norman for the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoffs for a rematch against the 10-2 Sooners, and the winner earns the right to play top-seeded Indiana (yes, I said Indiana) in the quarterfinals.
Alabama eked into the playoffs after laying an egg in the SEC Championship against Georgia, and though the Tide has not been playing particularly well as of late, it still has a path to a national title. Several Tide players have been banged up and a few days of much-needed rest could not be timelier. Perhaps rest and recovery are all Ty Simpson needs to clear his head and have a good showing in the land that Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops built. Perhaps Alabama can cobble together a running attack that is averaging a 10-year low. And perhaps the Tide can find a way to be sharper and crisper than it has been in a month.
Regardless, this is exactly the scenario we wanted to see when Oklahoma joined the SEC in 2024. Two traditional powerhouses meeting in the playoffs with three other SEC teams (Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas A&M) in the same championship bracket.
If you’re SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, it’s a great day to be alive.
Can the Tide end the Oklahoma dominance, or will the Sooners make it three in a row? Will Alabama fans walk out of the stadium happier than they were last year—and in 2002?
A word of advice, though, to anyone going to the game.
Just make sure you don’t lose the tickets on the way there. TG
