Was loss to Vanderbilt most-shocking in Alabama football history? Here are 8 other candidates

Alabama's 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday in Nashville was many things.

Shocking? Absolutely.

Embarrassing? Perhaps.

Unprecedented? Maybe.

The latter is what we are looking to explore in this space.

Here's the case for it being No. 1 on the list:

• Alabama had not lost to Vanderbilt since 1984. Bill Curry never lost to the Commodores, nor did Mike DuBose or Mike Shula. That Ray Perkins-led Crimson Tide team that did fall to Vandy 40 years ago ended up finishing 5-6 and had already lost twice that year. This Alabama team was No. 1 in the country and had just beaten Georgia.

• Vanderbilt was 0-60 against Top 5 teams in its history. The Commodores had had some near-miracles against highly ranked teams in the past, but had not been able to finish them off. Until now.

• And perhaps most of all, It's Alabama — arguably the most-storied college football program in college football history (and certainly the most-dominant of the last decade-plus) — and it's Vanderbilt — a punchline of SEC football for most of the last century. Talk about a David (or maybe Diego?) vs. Goliath story.

Still, your mileage on this particular loss may vary. You might have another that was even more galling.

If this was NOT the worst/most-embarrassing/most-shocking loss in Alabama history, here are eight other contenders (in chronological order):

This one happened so long ago that few who saw it are still alive to remember it, but it was an absolute stunner at the time. The Crimson Tide had beaten the Tigers 55-0 in the revival of the Iron Bowl the previous season, and came into the 1949 game with a 6-2-1 record to 1-4-3 for Auburn. Johnny Wallis and George Davis scored touchdowns for Auburn and Alabama's Ed Salem missed a game-tying extra point with 1:13 remaining. A rivalry was born.

Nearly everyone with any working knowledge of the Iron Bowl knows the broad strokes of this one. Paul "Bear" Bryant's Crimson Tide was 10-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally and had already clinched the SEC championship for the second straight year. Shug Jordan's Tigers were a good team at 9-1, but Alabama led 16-3 with less six minutes remaining and had thoroughly dominated the game statistically. In the blink of an eye (make that two eyes), Auburn's Bill Newton blocked two punts and David Langner returned both for touchdowns in a 17-16 Tigers victory immortalized as "Punt Bama Punt."

The Crimson Tide won eight of nine SEC championships from 1971-79, and took home national championships in 1973, 1978 and 1979. Bryant's team carried a 7-0 record, No. 1 national ranking and school-record 28-game winning streak into a date in Jackson with the Bulldogs, who hadn't beaten Alabama since 1958 (Bryant's first year at Alabama). Redshirt freshman quarterback John Bond did just enough to keep Alabama's defense off-balance running Emory Ballard's wishbone offense, and Dana Moore kicked a pair of field goals. Alabama drove to the Mississippi State 4-yard line in the closing seconds, but Tyrone Keys popped the ball loose from Billy Jackson and the Bulldogs recovered to secure what is still widely considered the most-memorable victory in MSU program history.

Bryant's program was starting to slip a bit by the early 1980s, but this one was still stunning based on the opponent. The Yellow Jackets went 1-9-1 in 1980 under first-year coach Bill Curry (yep) and were 24-point underdogs when they visited Legion Field to begin the 1981 season. Second-ranked Alabama had already played a game, routing LSU 24-7 in Baton Rouge. Tech outscored Alabama 10-0 in the fourth quarter, taking the lead for good on Robert Lavette's second touchdown run of the game. Alabama turned the ball over four times, but still had a chance to tie the game on the final play. However, Peter Kim's 50-yard field goal was well short. In an interesting postscript, Alabama went on to win the SEC championship — Bryant's 13th and final one with the Crimson Tide — that season. The win over Alabama ended up being Georgia Tech's lone win in a 1-10 season.

Saturday's loss to Vanderbilt wasn't the first for a first-year Alabama coach on the road against an lightly regarded opponent from the state of Tennessee. Bill Curry's team was 4-1 and ranked No. 15 nationally when the host Tigers — who had gone 1-10 the year before — pulled off the shocker at the Liberty Bowl. The Crimson Tide ran for 208 yards, but passed for just 66 and threw three interceptions. In the end it was an Alabama native — Johnny Butler of Phenix City — who was the hero for Memphis State, kicking a 47-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter. Alabama rebounded to beat Tennessee the following week and dealt eventual SEC champion LSU its only loss of the season in early November, but dropped its last final games to finish 7-5. Memphis ended up 5-5-1, and lost later that season to Southern Miss and Louisiana.

This might seem like an odd choice given the standing of the two programs in the last 20 years or so, but LSU was a legitimately bad team for most of the 1990s before Nick Saban set the Tigers on their current trajectory. Alabama was defending national champion and had a 31-game unbeaten streak —Gene Stallings' Crimson Tide had seen its 28-game winning streak snapped after playing Tennessee to a 17-17 tie earlier that season — when it welcomed 3-5 LSU to Bryant-Denny Stadium. With starting quarterback Jay Barker injured, the Crimson Tide ended up playing Brian Burgdorf, Freddie Kitchens and even David Palmer under center, and the three combined for four interceptions. LSU scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, which was enough to pull off the shocking win. Alabama ended up 9-3-1, beating North Carolina in the Gator Bowl.

The Crimson Tide played a number of nailbiters against inferior teams during the Stallings years, but nearly always pulled the victory out. That wasn't the case on a wild night in Starkville, as Mississippi State beat Alabama for the first time in 16 years and just the second time in 38. Alabama was 8-1 and ranked No. 8 nationally, while Jackie Sherrill's Bulldogs were 3-5. Mississippi State led 14-13 at halftime (after Alabama missed an extra point), then neither team scored in the third quarter. The Crimson Tide took a 16-14 lead on Jon Brock's 42-yard field goal with 11:22 left, and Mississippi State's Brian Hazelwood answered with a 39-yarder with 8:49 to play to put the Bulldogs up one. Izell McGill had two interceptions for MSU, including one in the fourth quarter to ice it. As Vanderbilt fans did on Saturday night, Bulldogs faithful tore down both goal posts at Scott Field. Alabama rallied to edge Auburn 24-23 the following week to clinch the SEC West title, then lost to Florida in the SEC championship game before beating Michigan in the Outback Bowl to send the retiring Stallings out a winner.

The Crimson Tide was obviously not a great team in Saban's first year, but a home loss to a no-name program like ULM was still a stunner — and remains so 17 years later. As is usually the case in these games, turnovers were costly. Alabama had four of them, including a killer Jimmy Johns fumble in the red zone in the closing minutes. In fact, the Crimson Tide made three trips inside the ULM 20 and did not score. Much was made at the time about the fact that Saban was the highest-paid coach in college football, while the Warhawks' Charlie Weatherbie was the lowest-paid in the FBS. It was the third of four straight losses to end the regular season for Alabama, which did rebound to beat Colorado in the Independence Bowl and finish 7-6. The Crimson Tide never had another season like that — or another loss, for that matter — during the remainder of Saban's incredible tenure.