Today is Paul “Bear” Bryant’s birthday; the legendary Alabama football coach was born Sept. 11, 1913, in Moro Bottom, Ark.

Bryant retired at the end of the 1982 season with a then-record 323 victories as a major-college football coach, 232 of them with the Crimson Tide. To commemorate what would have been Bryant’s 111th birthday, here’s our list of his 10 most-notable coaching wins at Alabama:

10. Alabama 9, Mississippi State 7 (Oct. 25, 1958)

“The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step,” a famous philosopher once said. That’s true here, as the Crimson Tide’s victory over the Bulldogs in Starkville was Bryant’s first SEC win at Alabama. It was also an early validation for Bryant, who was charged with turning around an Alabama program that hadn’t had a winning record in five years. The Crimson Tide finished 5-4-1 that season, the first of 25 straight with a winning record under Bryant.

9. Alabama 10, Arkansas 3 (Jan. 1, 1962)

Alabama’s first bowl win in nine years capped an undefeated national championship season for the Crimson Tide, the first of six it would win during Bryant’s tenure. Alabama had already been awarded the national title at the end of a 10-0 regular season, which was the common practice at the time. It was actually something of an upset when Arkansas kicked a field goal in that Sugar Bowl game, as the Crimson Tide hadn’t allowed a point since Oct. 21. Alabama gave up only 25 points in all of 1961 — including just a single touchdown against the first team — in perhaps the greatest season-long defensive performance in SEC football history.

8. Alabama 10, Auburn 0 (Nov. 28, 1959)

Bryant’s predecessor had been fired on the heels of a 40-0 loss in the 1957 Iron Bowl, but it took “The Bear” just two years to turn the tables on the Crimson Tide’s in-state rival. Bobby Skelton’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Scooter Dyess accounted for the only touchdown on this day at Legion Field. Auburn had outscored Alabama 142-15 in five straight Iron Bowl wins from 1954-58; the Crimson Tide would blank the Tigers 85-0 in winning four in a row from 1959-62. Bryant would finish 19-6 overall against Auburn, 13-5 vs. Tigers coach and close friend Ralph “Shug” Jordan.

7. Alabama 17, Tennessee 10 (Oct. 21, 1972)

Bryant always relished beating Tennessee more than any other opponent, and this victory might have been Alabama’s most unlikely comeback during his quarter-century tenure in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide trailed 10-3 with four-and-a-half minutes left, and appeared to be conceding defeat by punting from the Volunteers’ 44-yard line. However, the Crimson Tide defense quickly forced a punt and turned it into a Wilbur Jackson touchdown and a tie game with 1:48 to play. Three plays later, Mike DuBose forced a Tennessee fumble at the 22. Terry Davis ran into the end zone on the next snap and Alabama somehow escaped Knoxville with the second of what would be 11 straight wins on the “Third Saturday in October.”

6. Alabama 25, Auburn 18 (Dec. 1, 1979)

Another nail-biting victory kept alive a long rivalry winning streak, but also a national championship season. Alabama blew a 17-3 lead with a pair of fumbles, and Auburn took an 18-17 advantage into the fourth quarter. Steadman Shealy’s touchdown and two-point conversion midway through the fourth put the Crimson Tide back on top, and the Alabama defense stopped the Tigers twice in its own territory to preserve the win. It was the seventh of nine straight victories in the Iron Bowl for Alabama, and more importantly kept the Crimson Tide in the running for its second straight national championship, the last it would win under Bryant.

5. Alabama 39, Nebraska 28 (Jan. 1, 1966)

One of the wildest New Year’s Days in college football history handed Alabama its second straight national championship. Alabama entered the day ranked No. 4, set to face No. 3 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Earlier in the day, LSU edged No. 2 Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl and No. 5 UCLA knocked off No. 1 Michigan State in the Rose Bowl. That cleared the stage for the Crimson Tide, which outlasted the Cornhuskers behind Steve Sloan, Ray Perkins and a high-flying passing attack. The final AP poll was released three days later, with Alabama on top for the third time in five years.

4. Alabama 11, Tennessee 10 (Oct. 15, 1966)

Bryant always said the best team he ever had was the uncrowned “Missing Ring” team of 1966, which did not win a third straight national championship despite going 11-0 and again whipping Nebraska in a bowl game (this time, the Sugar). The politics of the time — notably Alabama and the SEC’s failure to integrate its football teams — played a major role in unbeaten-but-once-tied Notre Dame getting voted No. 1 instead. On the field, the Crimson Tide had a very close call in Knoxville, rallying from down 10-0 and winning by a point when Tennessee’s Gary Wright missed a late field goal. Asked about the play afterward, Bryant quipped “if he’d kicked it straight, we would have blocked it.”

3. Alabama 17, Southern Cal 10 (Sept. 10, 1971)

The ghosts of the 1960s were largely laid to rest in the 1971 season-opener as a finally integrated Alabama team unveiled its wishbone offense against a stunned Southern Cal squad at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Bryant had gone to great lengths to disguise the Crimson Tide’s schematic shift, closing practices for long stretches and running dummy plays from other formations when the media was allowed to watch. Halfback Johnny Musso and quarterback Terry Davis were the stars of the night for Alabama, but of greater significance was when defensive end John Mitchell took the field with the Crimson Tide defense. Mitchell was the first African-American to play in a varsity football game at Alabama, and would be joined on the field the following week by Wilbur Jackson. Within a few years, more than half of Alabama’s starters were Black.

2. Alabama 14, Penn State 7 (Jan. 1, 1979)

Arguably the most-iconic play and image in the history of Alabama football is that of linebacker Barry Krauss, back muscles bulging and straining as he met Penn State running back Mike Guman head-on atop a pile near the goal line on fourth down in the fourth quarter of the 1979 Sugar Bowl. The fourth-down play was only part of an incredible defensive sequence for the Crimson Tide, which stopped the top-ranked Nittany Lions at the 1 on three straight plays to preserve its seven-point lead. “The Goal Line Stand” became the symbol of Alabama football toughness for generations and a treasured painting hanging in the homes of thousands of Crimson Tide fans. The victory over Penn State lifted Alabama — which had lost to USC early in the regular season — to the its fifth national championship under Bryant.

1. Alabama 28, Auburn 17 (Nov. 28, 1981)

Bryant’s ascension as the winningest major-college football coach in history became an inevitability once Alabama began ringing up so many victories during the 1970s. He won his 300th career game vs. Kentucky in 1980, commencing the countdown toward Amos Alonzo Stagg’s record of 314. A stunning loss to Georgia Tech early in the season and then an equally shocking tie against Southern Miss meant that victory No. 315 might happen in the Iron Bowl. Bryant tied Stagg with an inspired win at No. No. 5 Penn State on Nov. 14, then rallied his team for a win in Birmingham two weeks later. Bryant protégé Pat Dye and Auburn led 17-14 late in the third quarter, but Alabama bounced back for two touchdowns to give Bryant the record. The win also secured Bryant’s 13th and final SEC championship at Alabama and the Crimson Tide’s still-record ninth straight win over Auburn.

So that’s our list. What did we leave out? Send us an email with your suggestions.

Creg Stephenson has worked for AL.com since 2010 and has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @CregStephenson.