The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Early newspaper accounts of Alabama football simply listed the team as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White", after the school colors.

These include, for years prior to consensus selections, five titles from NCAA-recognized "major selectors" bestowed in 1934 and 1941, and retrospectively for 1925, 1926, and 1930.

Alabama was also retrospectively selected as national champion for 1945, 1966, and 1977, as well as at the end of the 1975 college football season by the Matthews, Congrove, Colley Matrix, and Dunkel Systems,[4] but these five are not claimed by the university.

Under head coach and former point guard Mark Gottfried, the Tide advanced to postseason play for six consecutive years, culminating with the team's advancement into the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history in 2004, where the team lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the Phoenix regional final.

Under his watch the Crimson Tide battled through a tough first year, finishing 17–15 and achieving a top-10 ranking in points allowed on defense.

Alabama's women's basketball team competes in Coleman Coliseum and had previously played in Foster Auditorium.

The team has had nine head coaches, including Rick Moody, who guided the club to the 1994 NCAA Women's Final Four.

In ten NCAA tournament appearances, Alabama has advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" six times and the "Elite Eight" and the "Final Four" in 1994.

The University of Alabama Women's Basketball program shares the national record with Duke University for the most total points for both teams when Alabama defeated Duke 121–120 (in four overtimes) in 1995 in the NCAA tournament, a game that ESPN has declared as one of the best all-time women's basketball tournament games.

After Foster Auditorium was extensively renovated in a project that began in 2009, the Tide returned to their original home on February 13, 2011.

Tide baseball teams have participated in the NCAA College World Series five times (1950, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1999), finishing second in 1983 (to Texas) and 1997 (to LSU).

On June 7, 2012, Alabama became the first team in SEC history to win the WCWS Championship defeating Oklahoma in three games.

[citation needed] They have combined to make the NCAA tournament 13 out of 14 chances since they arrived, and have each led their teams to a Southeastern Conference Championship.

Alabama holds seven of the eleven NCAA records for the largest gymnastics crowds of all time, including an attendance of 15,162 fans on January 20, 2006.

The Crimson Tide's men's track and field program has produced numerous individual national champions, including Calvin Smith, the former world record holder in the 100-meter dash, Jan Johnson (pole vault), Gary England (shot put), Jeff Woodard (high jump), William Wuycke (1000 yards and 1000 meters), Emmit King (100 m), Keith Talley (55 m and 100 m hurdles), Andrew Owusu (long jump), Miguel Pate (long jump and NCAA national record), Mats Nilsson, Tim Broe (3000 m steeplechase), David Kimani (3000 m indoor and 5000 m), Kirani James (400 m), Diondre Batson (Indoor 200 meters), Hayden Reed (Discus) and the 4 × 100 meter relay team of Richard Beattie, Brad McQuaig, Eduardo Nava, and Clive Wright, and the mile relay team of Joe Coombs, Darroll Gatson, Tony Husbands, and Ike Levin.

The university hosts the Alabama Relays and the Crimson Classic annually, which brings many of the top programs in the country to compete at the Sam Bailey Track Stadium, built in 1975 with seating for 4,500 fans.

In 2005, senior Libby Probst earned third team All-American honors and the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award after breaking almost every major offensive record in her career at the Capstone.

Past coaches for Alabama Volleyball have included Stephanie Schleuder, Dorothy Franco-Reed, and Judy Green.

Davis Cup participants have included Juan Carlos Bianchi, Francisco Rodriguez, and Michael-Ray Pallares-González.

All-Americans for the Crimson Tide women's tennis team include Titia Wilmink (1993), Marouschka van Dijk (1993), Baili Camino (1997), Robin Stephenson (2005), Alexa Guarachi (2013), Mary Anne Macfarlane (2012, 2013).

Alabama was the winner of the NCAA Women's Doubles National Championship in 2014 and 2015 with the team of Erin Routliffe and Maya Jansen.

The second year (2007–2008) of competition surprised many as the Varsity eight went on to win silver medals at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, and also the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The school has had individual success in all these sports, including Vladislav Polyakov winning national titles in the 200-meter men's breaststroke in 2005 and 2007.

The Alabama Dance Team placed seventh in Hip Hop in 2018 and 2019, and 11th in 2019 in Jazz at the UDA College National Championship.

[25] Since 2006, Bama Hockey and the Frozen Tide has hosted sporting events for the Greater-Birmingham area at the Pelham Civic Center.

The Crimson Tide made their first appearance in the SELC Tournament in 2012, losing to the Florida State Seminoles 22–9 in the quarterfinals.

The team briefly played in the Atlantic Coast Lacrosse Association in 2001, hosting the league tournament that season.

Among Division I BCS schools in the southeastern U.S., the University of Alabama is at the top of the list with the greatest number of Academic All-Americans since 2000.

[36] Each of the University of Alabama's 21 varsity athletic teams scored significantly above the national standard of 925 in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 2012.