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What happened the last time Oklahoma Sooners played the Alabama Crimson Tide?

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What happened the last time Oklahoma Sooners played the Alabama Crimson Tide?


There isn’t a much better helmet matchup in college football than the Oklahoma Sooners and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Two of the top five programs in the history of college football are now in the same conference, and they’ll meet for just the seventh time ever on Saturday.

Two teams used to winning, and winning a lot are on opposite trajectories right now. OU started 4-1, but they are now just 5-5 with two games left. Bama lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee on the road earlier this season, but they’ve righted the ship with some key wins over the last few weeks against Missouri and LSU.

The all-time series between the two teams sits at 3-2-1 in favor of the Sooners. They first met in the Orange Bowl at the conclusion of the 1962 season. Alabama shut out Oklahoma that day, en route to a 17-0 victory. At the end of the 1970 season, they faced off in the Bluebonnet Bowl, with the game ending in a 24-24 tie.

There have been three matchups in the 21st century, beginning with a home game for the Sooners in 2002. Oklahoma won 37-27, highlighted by a couple of remarkable runs by Renaldo Works and a fumble return for a touchdown to seal the deal by Eric Bassey.

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The next year, the teams met in Tuscaloosa, with OU winning, this time by a score of 20-13. Of course, the 2003 Sooners would end up in the BCS National Championship Game that year.

Eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jason White (who was lost to a season-ending injury in the previous year’s game) hit Brandon Jones for a 47-yard touchdown in the third quarter on the game’s most series of plays. That throw immediately followed a gutsy successful fake punt call by Bob Stoops deep in his own territory.

But perhaps the matchup Sooner fans remember the most fondly happened in the Sugar Bowl after the 2013 season. The two-time defending national champion Crimson Tide were heavy favorites that night in New Orleans, but Oklahoma pulled off a huge 45-31 upset win.

Quarterback Trevor Knight had the finest game of his career, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns against the vaunted Tide defense. OU’s defense harassed Bama QB A.J. McCarron all night, with Eric Striker and Geneo Grissom teaming up for a scoop and score touchdown to end a potential game-tying drive. It was one of the best wins of the late-Stoops era in Norman, as the Sooners took down the No. 3 team in the country on a truly magical and unforgettable night.

However, Alabama currently has bragging rights in this series, as the two programs met in the 2018 College Football Playoff Orange Bowl semifinal six years ago. Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray and runner-up Tua Tagovailoa were primed for an offensive shootout in Miami, as Lincoln Riley and Nick Saban met for the first time.

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Unfortunately for Oklahoma, this game was essentially over thirteen and a half minutes in, as Alabama rolled to a 21-0 lead, stifling Murray in the process. It was 28-0 Bama before the Sooners finally scored in the second quarter, and the Crimson Tide kept OU at arms length for the rest of the night. Alabama won 45-34, showing off a complete, star-studded team.

Murray and the Oklahoma offense got the Sooners as close as 11 points on multiple occasions, but OU didn’t have a good enough defense to handle Tagovailoa and an excellent Tide offense. Riley was outcoached by Saban, who knew that Oklahoma couldn’t stop his team.

It wasn’t Murray’s finest hour in his final collegiate game before being selected No. 1 overall in the next April’s NFL Draft. Riley would coach the Sooners for three more seasons before bolting to USC. Tagovailoa, Saban and the Crimson Tide were defeated by Clemson in the national championship game, as Brent Venables’ defense put on a clinic against one of the best offenses in college football.

As the Sooners and the Crimson Tide prepare to meet again, Oklahoma is looking to get their fourth win in the series and improve to 4-1 this century. A performance like Knight’s at the quarterback position, coupled with a vintage 2018 Clemson performance from Alley and the defense would go a long way towards getting Oklahoma to bowl eligibility.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

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Alabama

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

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Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

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Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

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“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

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Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



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Alabama

New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten

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New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten


The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.

The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.

“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”

Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.

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Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.

“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”

A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.

“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”

The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.

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