Alabama’s rise back into the national spotlight has coincided with plenty of high-profile games in the south, but Saturday’s trip to Madison, Wisconsin will mark a rare foray into the northern United States.
The Crimson Tide, ranked No. 4 in the country after a 42-16 win over the University of South Florida on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, will look to knock off the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium in a nationally televised showdown this weekend.
Remarkably, the game Saturday will not be the furthest north that the Crimson Tide have ever hit the gridiron, but will be the furthest they’ve headed northward in nearly half a century.
The record for Alabama in terms of their furthest journey northward was set back in 1978, when they took on the Washington Huskies in Seattle. That game saw the Tide take down the Huskies 20-17 in a tightly-fought contest, and their season ended with a national title victory over Penn State in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The second-furthest north Alabama has played occurred all the way back in 1923 when they took on Syracuse in upstate New York. They were shut out by the Orange 23-0 in their first loss of that season, coming on the heels of a 56-0 thrashing of Ole Miss the week before.
Saturday’s game won’t even be Alabama’s first trip up to Madison, as they played Wisconsin in the 1928 season. The Badgers captured that game by a score of 15-0, with Alabama exacting revenge in a season-opening 35-17 win in Arlington, Texas back in 2015.
Other forays into the north for Alabama occurred in 1946 when they took on Boston College, and then in 1933 when they battled Fordham in New York City. The Tide have also played in South Bend against Notre Dame on two occasions, and have played Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania six times.
Saturday’s game between the Crimson Tide and Badgers will kick off at 11 a.m. on Fox.
In the future, Alabama will travel for non-conference games in several northern locales, including Ohio State in 2027, Notre Dame in 2029, Boston College in 2031 and Minnesota in 2032.
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The last game in that sequence will become the second-furthest north that Alabama has played.
