Monday’s Rose Bowl Game won’t have the primetime treatment of the Sugar Bowl, but it is arguably the biggest game remaining in the 2023 college football season outside of the College Football Playoff national championship.
That is due, in no small part, to the teams, players and coaches involved in the Granddaddy of Them All. No. 4 Alabama (12-1, 8-0 in SEC play) has faced criticism it isn’t deserving of its playoff berth, while the team it faces, top-ranked Michigan (13-0, 9-0 Big Ten) has been mired in its own controversies this season.
And, of course, any time Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh face off, it’s appointment viewing.
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Monday’s Rose Bowl semifinal will be only the sixth time between Alabama and Michigan. But for Saban, it’s yet another run-in with an old Big Ten nemesis. His history against the Wolverines long predates his time leading Alabama, reaching back through time when he was still an assistant and head coach in the Big Ten.
Here’s a look back at Saban’s all-time appearances, record and results vs. Michigan:
What is Nick Saban’s record vs. Michigan?
Saban is 7-7 all time in games coached against Michigan, including 3-4 as an assistant and 4-3 as a head coach. His is a well-documented history against the Wolverines, but it didn’t begin either at Alabama or Michigan State, where he was both an assistant (1983-87) and head coach (1995-99).
It began instead in 1980-81, when he was in the first of two seasons as Ohio State’s defensive backs coach under Earle Bruce. The Buckeyes went 1-1 vs. Michigan with Saban on the staff, dropping the 1980 game 9-3 before winning 14-9 in 1981.
After a one-year stint at Navy in the same position, Saban returned to the Big Ten, this time as the defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator for the Spartans. Michigan State went 2-3 with Saban on staff from 1983-87, and he wouldn’t see the Wolverines again until he was a head coach at MSU in 1995.
Saban opened his tenure with a forgettable 6-5-1 record, but punctuated his first season with a shocking 28-25 upset over No. 7 Michigan. The Wolverines went on to beat Saban’s MSU teams each of the next three seasons in 1996-98, winning by an average margin of just over two touchdowns. But Saban got the last laugh while with the Spartans, downing Lloyd Carr’s third-ranked Wolverines team 34-31 in 1999. (Michigan went on to beat Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl to cap off a 10-2 season).
Curiously, both Alabama and Saban’s next game vs. the Wolverines came in the 2012 Cowboys Kickoff Classic, when he led the Crimson Tide vs. Brady Hoke-led Michigan. His rematch against his old Big Ten nemesis produced a similar result to 1999, with Alabama downing the Wolverines 41-14.
Saban’s most recent matchup vs. Michigan was in the 2020 Citrus Bowl, when Alabama beat Michigan 35-16 thanks to a last-second touchdown with the game already well in hand.
COLUMN: Why Alabama will beat Michigan in Rose Bowl and advance to Texas rematch in CFP | Goodbread
What is Nick Saban’s record vs. Jim Harbaugh?
Saban and Harbaugh have coached against each other just once in their respective careers. Their lone meeting was in the Citrus Bowl, though it’s worth mentioning the backdrop of that game (and why Saban later faced questions of whether he ran up the score).
In May 2016, Saban spoke out against satellite camps and the NCAA rule that allowed head coaches to attend as guest instructors — a loophole that Harbaugh used extensively to his advantage. Speaking on the practice, Saban said at the time
“I don’t know how much it benefits anybody because all the people that say this is creating opportunities for kids, this is all about recruiting,” Saban said. “That’s what it’s about. … What’s amazing to me is somebody didn’t stand up and say here’s going to be the unintended consequences of what you all are doing.”
Harbaugh later fired back at Saban:
That said, Saban had prior run-ins with Harbaugh: Their paths briefly converged in the mid-80s when Saban was the Spartans’ defensive coordinator. Harbaugh, of course, was a quarterback on Bo Schembechler’s Michigan team from 1982-86.
Saban’s defenses went 2-3 vs. Michigan from 1983-87, including 1-2 vs. Harbaugh when he was the starting quarterback from 1984-86. Saban’s only win vs. Michigan with Harbaugh helming the offense came in 1984.
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Nick Saban all-time results vs. Michigan
Here is an all-time look at Saban’s appearances and results vs. Michigan, including as an assistant at Ohio State and Michigan State; head coach of the Spartans; and head coach at Alabama.
Results were as head coach unless otherwise specified.
- 1980 (Ohio State DBs): Michigan 9, Ohio State 3
- 1981 (Ohio State DBs): Ohio State 14, Michigan 9
- 1983 (Michigan State DC): Michigan 42, MSU 0
- 1984 (Michigan State DC): MSU 19, Michigan 7
- 1985 (Michigan State DC): Michigan 31, MSU 0
- 1986 (Michigan State DC): Michigan 27, MSU 6
- 1987 (Michigan State DC): MSU 17, Michigan 11
- 1995 (Michigan State): MSU 28, Michigan 25
- 1996 (Michigan State): Michigan 45, MSU 29
- 1997 (Michigan State): Michigan 23, MSU 7
- 1998 (Michigan State): Michigan 28, MSU 17
- 1999 (Michigan State): MSU 34, Michigan 31
- 2012 (Alabama): Alabama 41, Michigan 14
- 2020 (Alabama): Alabama 35, Michigan 16
