2004 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

2004 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Music City Bowl, L 16–20 vs. Minnesota
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionWestern Division
Record6–6 (3–5 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDavid Rader (2nd year)
Offensive schemePro style
Defensive coordinatorJoe Kines (4th year)
Base defense3–3–5
Captains
Home stadiumBryant–Denny Stadium
(Capacity: 83,818)
Seasons
← 2003
2005 →
2004 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 13 Tennessee x   7 1     10 3  
No. 7 Georgia   6 2     10 2  
Florida   4 4     7 5  
South Carolina   4 4     6 5  
Kentucky   1 7     2 9  
Vanderbilt   1 7     2 9  
Western Division
No. 2 Auburn x$   8 0     13 0  
No. 16 LSU   6 2     9 3  
Alabama   3 5     6 6  
Arkansas   3 5     5 6  
Ole Miss   3 5     4 7  
Mississippi State   2 6     3 8  
Championship: Auburn 38, Tennessee 28
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2004 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. This was the team's 72nd season in the SEC. The Crimson Tide were led by head coach Mike Shula who was entering his second season as head coach. They began their season with trying to improve from a 4–9 (2–6) record from the 2003 season. The 2004 squad finished the season with a record of 6–6 following a loss to Minnesota in the Music City Bowl.

The team began the 2004 season at 3–0 with blowout victories over Utah State, Mississippi, and Western Carolina. The Tide's starting quarterback Brodie Croyle was injured during the Western Carolina game and lost for the season. Without him, the team struggled to find consistent offense against SEC opponents Arkansas and South Carolina. The team rebounded to have multiple blowouts victories in three of the next four games, only losing to rival Tennessee. The season ended on a three-game slide, losing to rivals LSU and Auburn, also losing in the Music City Bowl to Minnesota. This season also marks the first time since 1958 in which Alabama was absent from the AP poll top 25 every week of the season while also being the first year that Alabama did not play a game at Legion Field.