[11] The Crimson Tide opened the 1956 season with their 14th consecutive loss, while their opponent, the Rice Owls, ended their own seven-game losing streak with their 20–13 victory at Houston.
[12][13][14] The Owls scored the first touchdown of the game on their opening drive when Frank Ryan threw a 12-yard pass to Buddy Dial.
[12] Alabama responded in the final minute of the quarter with a one-yard Clay Walls touchdown run to tie the game at 7–7.
[15] In their annual home game at Ladd Stadium, the Crimson Tide were defeated by the Vanderbilt Commodores 32–7 to open conference play.
[14][16] After a scoreless first quarter, the Commodores took a 13–0 halftime lead with second-quarter touchdowns scored on a short pass from Donald Orr to Gerald Hudson and later on a three-yard Danny McCall run.
[16] Vanderbilt then closed the game with a pair of touchdowns on runs of 25-yards by Phil King and three-yards by William Smith to win 32–7.
[18] For the second consecutive season, Alabama played host to the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs of the Southwest Conference, and for the second time in as many years lost 23–6.
[19][20] In the second quarter, the Frogs scored on an 11-yard Buddy Dike touchdown run and on a 21-yard Vernon Hallbeck field goal and took a 16–0 halftime lead.
[21] In their annual rivalry game against Tennessee, Alabama was shut out for the second consecutive year by the Volunteers in a 24–0 loss in Knoxville.
[25][26] The Crimson Tide responded in the second quarter on a 46-yard Clay Walls touchdown pass to Jimmy Bowdoin that made the halftime score 12–6.
B. Davis punt return, they took a 10–7 lead early in the fourth quarter after Clenton Cooper kicked a 29-yard field goal.