Rivalry leaderboard
Alabama-Penn State Greatest Games
The series' top 15 meetings, ranked without team allegiance by game-time AP strength, final-score closeness, and overtime.
- Games
- 15
- Top score
- 77/100
- Overtime
- 0
Series context
- Completed meetings
- 15
- Series record
- Alabama 10-5 Penn State
- Tracked years
- 1959-2011
- Trophy
- No named trophy
Series ranking
The rivalry's top 15 games
14 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.
- 1978PostseasonNeutral site
Penn State vs. Alabama
Penn State 7, Alabama 14
Winner: Alabama
No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 2 Alabama · 7-point margin
Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
77
Game score
- 1975PostseasonNeutral site
Penn State vs. Alabama
Penn State 6, Alabama 13
Winner: Alabama
No. 8 Penn State vs. No. 4 Alabama · 7-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1985Week 7
Alabama at Penn State
Alabama 17, Penn State 19
Winner: Penn State
No. 10 Alabama vs. No. 8 Penn State · 2-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1989Week 9
Alabama at Penn State
Alabama 17, Penn State 16
Winner: Alabama
No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 14 Penn State · 1-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
- 1981Week 11
Alabama at Penn State
Alabama 31, Penn State 16
Winner: Alabama
No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 5 Penn State · 15-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
- 1982Week 6
Penn State at Alabama
Penn State 21, Alabama 42
Winner: Alabama
No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 4 Alabama · 21-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 14/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1986Week 9
Penn State at Alabama
Penn State 23, Alabama 3
Winner: Penn State
No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 8 Alabama · 20-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 15/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
- 1959PostseasonNeutral site
Alabama vs. Penn State
Alabama 0, Penn State 7
Winner: Penn State
No. 11 Alabama vs. No. 14 Penn State · 7-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1987Week 3
Alabama at Penn State
Alabama 24, Penn State 13
Winner: Alabama
No. 11 Alabama vs. No. 20 Penn State · 11-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15
45
Game score
- 1983Week 7
Alabama at Penn State
Alabama 28, Penn State 34
Winner: Penn State
No. 11 Alabama vs. Unranked Penn State · 6-point margin
Ranking 15/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
44
Game score
- 1984Week 8
Penn State at Alabama
Penn State 0, Alabama 6
Winner: Alabama
No. 19 Penn State vs. Unranked Alabama · 6-point margin
Ranking 7/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
36
Game score
- 1988Week 9
Penn State at Alabama
Penn State 3, Alabama 8
Winner: Alabama
Unranked Penn State vs. Unranked Alabama · 5-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
30
Game score
- 1990Week 10
Penn State at Alabama
Penn State 9, Alabama 0
Winner: Penn State
No. 24 Penn State vs. Unranked Alabama · 9-point margin
Ranking 2/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
28
Game score
Methodology
How each game earns up to 100 points
AP ranking, 50 points: each team earns 26 minus its game-time AP rank. Unranked teams receive zero.
Closeness, 35 points: the final margin is subtracted from 35, with margins of 35 or more receiving zero.
Overtime, 15 points: overtime starts at nine points and rises by two per additional period, capped at 15.
Regular-season rankings use the AP Top 25 recorded for the game's week. Postseason meetings use the final regular-season AP poll before bowl and playoff results. Games before 2005 remain in the ranking but do not link to unsupported box-score pages. Videos are matched by canonical game ID or by a rematch-safe season matchup.