ROUSES_SeptOct2019_Magazine

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03 THE GAME USUALLY HAS NATIONAL RELEVANCE

THE RIVALRY IS CONTAINED ENTIRELY WITHIN ONE STATE

Every season since 2008 — a streak that has reached 11 years and counting — either Alabama or Auburn has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 nationally on the day of the Iron Bowl. That means the winner of the game stands a good chance of remaining in the national championship race, or vaulting into it. Three times in that same span, both teams have been ranked in the Top 10 nationally. On those occasions, the Iron Bowl has acted as a de facto elimination game, with the winner headed to the SEC championship game to play what amounts to a College Football Playoff play-in game. In 10 of the last 11 years, the winner of the Iron Bowl has won the SEC West championship (LSU in 2011 is the only team to break that streak, though Alabama won the national champi- onship that season). The Iron Bowl winner also won the BCS National Championship Game in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017, and played for it in 2013 and 2018. And it’s not as if it’s only Alabama that has parlayed the Iron Bowl into a championship run. Auburn won the game in 2010, 2013 and 2017, winning the national title in the first year, playing for it in the second and falling in the SEC championship game in the third. The game’s championship relevance is a big reason why the Iron Bowl has been on national television in the CBS mid- afternoon or ESPN primetime slot every year since 1994, which is a span of a quarter-century. Television executives know that casual fans care about the Iron Bowl too. In 1984, four-win Alabama scored a 17-15 upset when blocking back Bo Jackson ran the wrong way, leaving teammate Brent Fullwood exposed for a game-saving tackle by the Crimson Tide’s Rory Turner. The following year, Alabama won 25-23 on Van Tiffin’s last-second, 52-yard field goal in a game that featured four lead changes in the fourth quarter. Alabama won 26-21 in 2009 on a final-minute touchdown pass from Greg McElroy to Roy Upchurch, keeping the team’s national title hopes alive. Auburn won 28-27 in 2010 behind Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton after trailing 24-3 at halftime, keeping Auburn’s national title hopes alive. And then there was 2013, which might be the most fantastic finish in college football history. After Saban successfully argued to have one second put back on the clock at the end of regulation, Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a missed 57-yard field goal by Adam Griffith 109 yards for the winning touchdown in a 34-28 Tigers victory forever immortalized as the “Kick Six.” Big wins in the Iron Bowl get their own nickname — “Punt Bama Punt,” “Wrong Way Bo,” “The Kick,” “The Cam-back” and the “Kick Six.” Say those words around an Alabama or Auburn fan and there will be little confusion as to which game you are talking about.

We listed three great college football rivalries in addition to the Iron Bowl above — Ohio State-Michigan, Texas-Oklahoma and Florida-Georgia. Each of them is heated, competitive and relevant in its own way, but what they don’t have is proximity. Sure, those states share borders and sometimes media markets (including Dallas for Texas-Oklahoma and Jackson- ville for Florida-Georgia). But the fans don’t generally live and work with each other 365 days a year. If you’re an Ohio State fan living in Cleveland, you probably don’t hear much about Michigan throughout the year. And you certainly don’t have to hear from their fans if your team is unfor- tunate enough to lose to the Wolverines during football season. A Georgia fan in Atlanta doesn’t have to think about Florida in March; she’s not bombarded with orange and blue or the Gator chomp everywhere she goes. She doesn’t have to read about Florida in local news coverage or hear about the Gators from the gal in the next cubicle. That’s not the case with Alabama-Auburn. Crimson Tide and Tiger fans are right on top of each other all year long. They share workplaces, churches and even the same home on occasion (though such so-called “mixed marriages” are an ill-advised concept). Yes, there are other great intrastate rivalries — Florida-Florida State, Mississippi State-Ole Miss, Kentucky-Louisville among them — but they simply don’t hold up to the Iron Bowl. Florida State isn’t even Florida’s most-hated rival; that’s Georgia. Mississippi State-Ole Miss is an all-consuming rivalry, there is little doubt, but those teams are rarely competitive at the same time. Kentucky-Louisville … well, that’s mainly about basketball. Does that even count?

04 THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY FANTASTIC FINISHES

Though the better team nearly always wins the Iron Bowl, it has been an incredibly even series in the last three-plus decades. Since Bryant retired following the 1982 season, Alabama and Auburn have each won the Iron Bowl exactly 18 times. There have been streaks — Auburn won four straight from 1986 to 1989 and six in a row from 2002 to 2007, while Alabama has won four of the last five. But to Auburn’s credit, every time it seems like Alabama is going to run away with the rivalry, the Tigers pull off an incredible, heart-stopping victory. In 1972, Auburn’s David Langner scored two touchdowns in the final minutes — both on blocked punts by Bill Newton — to knock off heavily favored Alabama 17-16. It would be the Crimson Tide’s only SEC loss in a five-year span from 1971 to 1975.

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