Jumbo Package: Tide lives to fight another day

Happy Friday, everyone. The Gym Tide will close the regular season at No. 1 Oklahoma tonight, televised by Fox Sports Oklahoma in the unlikely event that you live in that market, but also available online here. Softball won a pair in Honolulu for a school record 28 consecutive victories to open the season. They will play three more out there this weekend, and baseball heads to Oxford for a three-game set against #8 Ole Miss. All three baseball games will be available on the ESPN app.

Of course, the big news of the day is the basketball team’s scrappy finish to salvage its season in Nashville.

“When we got here four years ago, we’d lose a game and you might see one or two comments,” Johnson said after Alabama’s 62-57 win over Ole Miss. “Now when we lose, you see hundreds. That shows our fans are into it. They are passionate. They are engaged. If we don’t play with maximum effort, we hear about it.”

Johnson said “there might be 10 idiots out there,” but he had a “tough skin” when it comes to criticism.

“You have to understand, when we don’t play well, my wife fires me first,” Johnson joked. “So I can handle it.”

It’s still a bit disconcerting that a team with so many long, fast athletes has to resort to dragging teams into the mud with them in hopes to win ugly, but that seems to be the identity of this bunch. Tevin Mack lit up the Wildcats in January, so maybe he can continue his hot shooting tonight. Tip-off is 6pm CT on SEC Network.

AJ McCarron will be on the move again.

Had McCarron been on the Raiders’ roster on Friday, he would have received a $1.9 million bonus, and $1.1 million of his $3 million base salary for the 2019 season would have become guaranteed, too.

That was part of the contract that McCarron signed with the Buffalo Bills in free agency last year.

WIth the state of QB play across the league, you have to think that he will one day get his shot to start, though carrying a clipboard for seven figures ain’t a bad gig.

You’re going to want to watch Chicago’s defense, y’all.

Khalil Mack getting after the passer with Eddie and Ha Ha sitting back there waiting on the wounded ducks? That defense might outscore some offenses.

Freshman DB Brandon Turnage should do well on the 50/50 balls.

That is an athlete, folks.

Last, the tombstone is up.

Expect that to be all over the locker room.

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.