The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

[9][10][11] From 1958 to 1982, the team was led by Hall of Fame coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who won six national titles with the program.

[8] Alabama then had a dominant run under head coach Nick Saban between 2007 and 2023, resulting in six further national titles.

It was not until 2009 that an Alabama player received a Heisman Trophy, when running back Mark Ingram II became the university's first winner.

Adopting the nickname "Crimson Tide" after the 1907 season, 12 coaches have led the Crimson Tide in postseason bowl games: Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Harold D. "Red" Drew, Bear Bryant, Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Shula, Joe Kines, and Nick Saban.

[7] Eight of those coaches also won conference championships: Wade, Thomas, Drew, Bryant, Curry, Stallings, DuBose, and Saban.

During their tenures, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, Stallings, and Saban all won national championships with the Crimson Tide.

[7] Of the 27 different head coaches who have led the Crimson Tide, Wade,[18] Thomas,[19] Bryant,[20] and Stallings have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Despite not naming an official National Champion, the NCAA provides lists of championships awarded by "major selectors.

"[9][24] According to the official NCAA 2009 Division I Football Records Book, "During the last 138 years, there have been more than 30 selectors of national champions using polls, historical research and mathematical rating systems.

Beginning in 1936, the Associated Press began the best-known and most widely circulated poll of sportswriters and broadcasters.

[citation needed] This policy is consistent with other FBS football programs with numerous national title claims,[citation needed] including Notre Dame, USC, and Oklahoma, except that in the pre-1936 era, unlike Alabama, there are major selectors' titles that these schools do not claim.

In the 1980s, Alabama's Sports Information Director Wayne Atcheson started recognizing five pre-Bryant national championship teams (1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941) by adding them to the university's Football Media Guide.

According to Atcheson, he made the effort in the context of disputed titles being claimed by other schools, and "to make Alabama football look the best it could look" to compete with the other claimants.

[56] The most recent All-Americans from Alabama came after the 2022 season, when Will Anderson Jr. and Brian Branch were each named First Team All-America by various selectors.

DeVonta Smith became Alabama's third Heisman winner with Mac Jones finishing third and Najee Harris fifth.

[72] Despite the heated in-state rivalry with Auburn, Bear Bryant was more adamant about defeating his rivals to the north, the Tennessee Volunteers.

[78][79][80] The Crimson Tide lost the first "Saban Bowl" in 2007, won the 2008 and 2009 meetings only to lose in Baton Rouge in 2010.

Many cite the 2014 meeting as the biggest game in the series where Alabama faced a #1 ranked, 9–0 Mississippi State team with Dak Prescott as its quarterback.

[83] The series dates back to 1900 but the rivalry has intensified in recent years, with the last four meetings having national championship implications.

[85] Alabama has a rivalry with the Florida Gators, which was largely developed with the start of the SEC Championship Game.

[citation needed] During the suspension of the Iron Bowl between 1907 and 1948, Georgia Tech (then a member of the SEC) emerged as the most intense game on Alabama's schedule.

A heated feud developed between Bear Bryant and Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Dodd following a controversial hit in the 1961 game, a 10–0 Alabama victory.

[89] Dodd cited this feud as the primary impetus for Georgia Tech leaving the SEC three years later.

[90] The two teams have met 52 times, making Georgia Tech Alabama's most played among current non-conference opponents.

The two teams met five times during the tenure of Bear Bryant, including in the 1979 Sugar Bowl, which determined the national championship for the 1978 season.

Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current SEC opponents as of the completion of the 2024 season.

Radio stations WFFN-FM, WTSK-AM as a backup, broadcast all home games in the Tuscaloosa area.

[97] Football radio broadcasts begin three hours prior to the game's designated kickoff time with Chris Stewart and Tyler Watts in Around the SEC.

[98] The radio broadcast then moves to the Crimson Tide Tailgate Party hosted by Tom Roberts.