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See how Nick Saban reacted to reporter's question about Pat White's recruiting allegation | AL.com
A Nashville reporter broached White's claims of improper offers in the recruiting process. Alabama spokesman Jeff Purinton stepped in and said Saban was not with the program at the time of White's recruitment. But Saban responded anyway.
"I didn't even know it happened," he said. "So I can't comment on it. ... Is that the best thing we can talk about? ... kiss my ass."
A couple of things here: 1) OF COURSE this happened in Tennessee. Saban's bewilderment at the question is palpable. The incident Pat White described (if true) would have happened in 2004-2005, as White signed with West Virginia in 2005. I seriously doubt Saban concerns himself with getting updates every time a washout mentions Bama on twitter, particularly about events that would've occurred before his tenure. 2) The Tennessee reporter that asked the question didn't even get the quote right:
Nick Saban not happy when I asked about Pat White's claim. "Kiss my a$$, do we not have anything else to talk about?" pic.twitter.com/mhCcxQFi8i
— Mike Organ (@MikeOrganWriter) May 15, 2014
Nation's top junior college prospect Jovon Robinson commits to Auburn | AL.com
Jovon Robinson, the nation's top-rated junior college player, verbally committed to Auburn Thursday morning. Robinson, who signed with Auburn in 2012 but was later ruled academically ineligible, picked the Tigers over heavy interest from Alabama and the rest of the Southeastern Conference.
Robinson is a good one, and I wish we would be seeing him in Crimson. Saban will keep pursuing him until pen meets paper, but expectations for a flip should be low now that he has committed to Auburn twice.
ACC banks on momentum as new era starts - ESPN
Now comes the wait-and-see approach on multiple fronts. The ACC and Big 12 have submitted legislation to the NCAA, asking that leagues with 12 teams and two divisions no longer be required to hold conference championship games. An answer is expected in August, and Swofford believes the legislation will pass.
But that does not necessarily mean the ACC will change its championship game setup. Views are mixed among athletic directors on whether the current division champion model should be kept in place, or whether divisions should be scrapped entirely to create opportunities to play league opponents more frequently and have its two best teams play for the league title.
"I don't think people should necessarily interpret our pushing this forward to mean we'd definitely change what we're doing but it would give us the flexibility to," Swofford said. "If that occurs, we'll have a thorough discussion about it."
Weird format proposal coming out of the ACC. What's the value of having divisional champions, if you don't have them square off? It seems to me if the divisions are static, then in any given year, you are likely handicapping one side over the other. And since there's no championship game where the handicapped division champ can prove themselves, there will be no remediation for that handicap.
Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban on to something with scheduling - ESPN
Saban, who has three national championships at Alabama, wanted nine conference games per season. The coach who has greatly benefited from the traditional eight-game conference slate felt it was better for the league if it made things harder for everyone. I can respect that, and I also respect the fact that Saban is still pushing for the league to make things harder.
On Wednesday, Saban continued his stance on beefier schedules by saying he thinks teams in the Big 5 conferences -- SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 -- should only play teams from the Big 5 conferences.
"If it was totally up to me, I'd say you've got to play all 12 games in the Big 5. If we did that, I think we would be less averse to playing more conference games because I think we have such a great conference. But I don't think anybody's going to be in favor of that until we change how you select bowl teams. I think you ought to do it based on the RPI and strength of schedule and all that for all bowls."
Dang. Saban's looking to basically blow up the whole system. He does raise some good points. The only reason everyone is scheduling cupcakes is because everyone is scheduling cupcakes and there's no sense in stepping out and putting yourself in harm's way. If it was a mandated move, and everyone jumped at once, we (the fans) would be flooded with more good football. Viva la revolution.
No. 1 Alabama men's golf jumps out to big lead at NCAA Regional | AL.com