Put this in the "News that isn't really news" category: Wide receivers Michael Bowman and Ronald Carswell have been suspended, as announced by Nick Saban in his evening press conference. Per Cecil Hurt:
As indicated above, this is only news to the extent that it was previously unknown to the general public. Saban was very clear in his press conference that this has been something taking place internally for quite some time now, and in terms of disruptions for the bowl game it's not like either of the two were on-field contributors to this team so it's a complete non-loss in terms of production and depth.
Moving past January 9th, you have to figure this is most likely the end of the road for both players in Tuscaloosa. In recent years the "suspended" label has almost invariably led to transfers in the weeks and months ahead, and based on that past precedent alone that is likely the end game here as well. That most likely holds especially true for Bowman, who spent most of the 2010 season in the proverbial doghouse.
Outside of the Bowman and Carswell news, there was little else to report from Saban's address of the media. Saban did mention that there were no known academic issues with any players and that there were no developments with respect to the offensive coordinator vacancy, but that was expected news on both fronts. 'Bama will return to the practice field the next four days before breaking for the Christmas holidays on December 23rd.