Nick Saban Agrees He Is Overrated
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| Nick Saban leading the Tide onto the field Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
During an interview on The Dan Patrick Show, University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban agreed with a recent CBS Sports poll of anonymous coaches listing him as the second most overrated head coach in college football. The most overrated? Jim Harbaugh of Michigan.
In speaking to Patrick about the poll, Saban said, "I probably agree with that. The success that we have is really contributed by a lot of people. We have really good coaches. We have a really good staff of people who work with the players. We've had a tremendous amount of really good players who have made a tremendous commitment to a standard of excellence that has created a lot of success here. So I feel like I get far too much credit."
Honestly, all things considered, calling one of the coaches who have won more national championships than anyone alive today, or running close to anyone else in the history of the sport, overrated really is a bit much. He has led the Crimson Tide to seven Southeastern Conference Western Division titles, five SEC titles and four national championships since 2007. Overrated?
Talk about the key personnel around him, well, who hired them? Part of coaching is surrounding yourself with the right assistants, both coaching on the field and off. Saban has consistently done that. In fact, many of his assistants now have head coaching gigs themselves, have had, or are successfully coaching in the NFL. Overrated?
Speaking of personnel: the players themselves. Here is a coach, yes, along with his assistants whom he himself selected and hired, brought in seven consecutive No.1 recruiting classes. Underrated?
I don't think so.
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Point Spread Widens For Alabama - FSU
What began as a 5 1/2-point spread in favor of Alabama, has now increased to a full touchdown and extra point, seven points in the Crimson Tide - Seminoles opening contest scheduled for September 2nd in Atlanta, Georgia. This prediction comes courtesy of both Danny Sheridan and Vegas Insider.
The latest AP Preseason poll was released on Monday, selecting the boys from Bama as the No. 1 group in the land. Florida State was No. 3, with both teams ranked the same as the Amway USA Today Coaches Poll. Alabama received 52 of the 61 first place votes, while State garnered four which was the second most of all the schools.
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Crimson Tide Football Again Ranked No. 1
In Associated Press Preseason College Football Poll
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| Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
The University of Alabama is No. 1 team in college football in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 college football poll. The Crimson Tide is the first college football program in 12 years to capture the top spot in the prestigious national poll for two consecutive years. It should also be noted that Bama starts the 2017 season ranked in the top five of the AP preseason poll for the ninth straight year. It's the eighth consecutive year the Tide has been ranked in the top three, the longest stretch in UA football history.
In its illustrious history, Alabama has topped the AP's preseason poll six times. Additionally the Tide has also started the season No. 1 in the rankings in 1966,
1978, 2010, 2013 as well as 2016.
A total of 13 starters return from last season's Tide team that finished 14-1 and captured the UA's 26th Southeastern Conference crown. Bama has claimed four of the
last eight national championships of college football, and boasts a 112-13 record across the
last nine seasons under Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Now if you ask any Alabama football fan, pretty much all of them will tell you that with the returning talent and the stable of new players recruited from the number one recruiting class in the nation, the Crimson Tide deserves the ranking. In fact, most believe UA will march through the season unscathed. (Undefeated is not the prediction I'm making, however the point is that there are many who believe there are only two teams this season that even realistically have a chance to defeat the Tide.)
The Alabama Crimson Tide is the only Southeastern Conference team listed in the AP top 10, but the SEC still leads all conferences with the total number of teams in the Top 25 with six. Following the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 1 is Auburn (12), LSU (13), Georgia (15), Florida (17) and Tennessee (25). Both Kentucky and Texas A&M received three points apiece falling just outside the Top 25.
Here is a breakdown of the standings by conference:
SEC — 6 (plus 2 just outside Top 25)
ACC — 5
Big 12 — 5
Big Ten — 4
Pac-12 — 4
American — 1
There is no doubt that head coach Nick Saban has brought the Crimson Tide back from the doldrums of previous seasons before arriving at the Capstone. Though Bama has not always won the SEC West, or SEC or a National Championship since Saban brought the tide rolling in again, it has always been in a position to do so.
To begin the 2017 college football season, Alabama received 52 of 61 first-place votes from media members who make up the voting delegation for the AP. Ohio State was No. 2, just edging out No. 3 Florida State. Folks hoping for that No. 1 vs No. 2 in the opening game in Atlanta, Georgia on September 2nd will still have to wait to see that phenomena. However, it will still be only the fourth opening game involving top five teams, and the first opener ever with the preseason top three.
The Alabama Crimson Tide opens its 2017 football season on September 2nd in Atlanta, Georgia facing the
third-ranked Florida State Seminoles in the annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the new
Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The contest is slated for a 7 p.m. CT start
on the ABC television network. It will be Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor and Tom Rinaldi
on the call.
Here is the Associated Press 2017 Preseason Top 25 College Football Teams:
(Record indicates finish of 2016 season)
| 1 |  |
Alabama (52)
SEC
Record: 14-1
|
PV Rank
2
Points
1,513 |
| 2 |  |
Ohio State (3)
Big Ten
Record: 11-2
|
6
1,414
|
| 3 |  |
Florida State (4)
ACC
Record: 10-3
|
8
1,396
|
| 4 |  |
USC (2)
Pac-12
Record: 10-3
|
3
1,325
|
| 5 |  |
Clemson
ACC
Record: 14-1
|
1
1,201
|
| 6 |  |
Penn State
Big Ten
Record: 11-3
|
7
1,196
|
| 7 |  |
Oklahoma
Big 12
Record: 11-2
|
5
1,170
|
| 8 |  |
Washington
Pac-12
Record: 12-2
|
4
1,150
|
| 9 |  |
Wisconsin
Big Ten
Record: 11-3
|
9
926
|
| 10 |  |
Oklahoma State
Big 12
Record: 10-3
|
11
889
|
| 11 |  |
Michigan
Big Ten
Record: 10-3
|
10
881
|
| 12 |  |
Auburn
SEC
Record: 8-5
|
24
880
|
| 13 |  |
LSU
SEC
Record: 8-4
|
13
784
|
| 14 |  |
Stanford
Pac-12
Record: 10-3
|
12
695
|
| 15 |  |
Georgia
SEC
Record: 8-5
|
-
690
|
| 16 |  |
Louisville
ACC
Record: 9-4
|
21
629
|
| 17 |  |
Florida
SEC
Record: 9-4
|
14
624
|
| 18 |  |
Miami (FL)
ACC
Record: 9-4
|
20
492
|
| 19 |  |
South Florida
The American
Record: 11-2
|
19
327
|
| 20 |  |
Kansas State
Big 12
Record: 9-4
|
-
317
|
| 21 |  |
Virginia Tech
ACC
Record: 10-4
|
16
240
|
| 22 |  |
West Virginia
Big 12
Record: 10-3
|
18
207
|
| 23 |  |
Texas
Big 12
Record: 5-7
|
-
173
|
| 24 |  |
Washington State
Pac-12
Record: 8-5
|
-
133
|
| 25 |  |
Tennessee
SEC
Record: 9-4
|
22
114
|
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Mel Kiper, Jr Snubs The Tide
In His Final Four Playoff Predictions
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| ESPN's Mel Kiper, Jr. Photo taken from Bing.com |
It would appear that ESPN recruiting guru Mel Kiper, Jr doesn't have the confidence in Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide football team for 2017 that most have. Kiper not only doesn't pick Bama to win the national championship, he doesn't even place the Tide in the four playoff positions.
Kiper has picked the Washington Huskies to defeat the Florida State Seminoles in the national championship game.
"Can you just recreate stars at Alabama? Where's the pass-rush going to come from?"
He has Washington as the No. 1 seed, Ohio State at No. 2, Florida State at No. 3. Yes, he has an SEC team in the playoffs. He says Auburn will be the No. 4 seed.
Dari Nowkhah, however, has a different final four and different outcome for the national championship. His final four is Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Washington. He is going with Saban and the Crimson Tide to capture the national championship.
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| Dari Nowkhah Photo Credit: ESPN |
