Due to a myriad of irreconcilable issues, Alabama and Auburn fell out after the 1907 season and infamously didn’t play for 41 years. The game finally returned in 1948 under pressure from the state legislature, as fans clamored for the series to return and the two school presidents managed to hammer out a deal. As Christopher Walsh notes, not everyone on the Alabama side was pleased about it.
In 1948, the debate on whether to renew the series finally came to an end after state legislators threatened to get involved despite objections from Alabama athletic director Frank Thomas and other school officials, who believed nothing could be gained by playing a team that had never finished better than third in the Southeastern Conference.