| 1961 Alabama Crimson Tide football | |
|---|---|
.png) Billy Neighbors during NC State game, 1961 | |
Consensus national champion Sugar Bowl champion SEC co-champion | |
Sugar Bowl, W 10–3 vs. Arkansas | |
| Conference | Southeastern Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 1 |
| AP | No. 1 |
| Record | 11–0 (7–0 SEC) |
| Head coach |
|
| Captains | |
| Home stadium | Denny Stadium Legion Field Ladd Memorial Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Alabama + | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 LSU + | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Ole Miss | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Georgia Tech | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulane | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanderbilt | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1961 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1961 college football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 67th overall and 28th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his fourth year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Legion Field in Birmingham and Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. They finished season undefeated with eleven wins (11–0 overall, 7–0 in the SEC), with a victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl and as consensus national champions.[1] The 1961 national championship was the first of the six that Bear Bryant would win as head coach of the Crimson Tide.[2]
Alabama opened the season with a win over Georgia on the road in week one, and then defeated Tulane in its first home game at Ladd Stadium in week two. After they won their second road game of the season at Vanderbilt, Alabama returned to Tuscaloosa where they defeated NC State in the first Denny Stadium game of the season. The next week, Alabama defeated Tennessee for the first time since the 1954 season in the first Legion Field game of the year.
The Crimson Tide then defeated Houston in their final road game of the season and then returned home and defeated Mississippi State on homecoming in Tuscaloosa. The next week Alabama scored their most points in a game since the 1951 season when they defeated Richmond, 66–0. They then closed the regular season with wins over Georgia Tech and Auburn in the Iron Bowl. At the end of the regular season, they were ranked No. 1 in both the AP writers poll and the UPI coaches poll. The Crimson Tide then closed the season with a victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Football Bowl Subdivision Records: Consensus National Champions" (PDF). 2012 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 78. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ^ Gold, Eli (2005). Crimson Nation: The Shaping of the South's Most Dominant Football Team. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. p. 107. ISBN 1418553999. Retrieved February 17, 2013.