Jumbo Package: Nick Saban talks spring practice

Happy Thursday, everyone. As the basketball team prepares to face UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday, they managed to carve out a little time to visit the zoo.

It’s always good to get a break.

Maryland grad Scott Van Pelt of ESPN bet Justin Thomas $2.7 million, the size of Thomas’ last purse, on the Terps to beat Alabama. Oops.

As you might imagine, Thomas let him off the hook. He said he’d take lunch at The Masters instead. In any case, Van Pelt said this about Alabama.

“You see somebody shoot 64 in a round on Thursday, one of the hardest things on the PGA Tour to do is shoot another great score the next day,” Van Pelt said. “Same person, same course. Why don’t you, why can’t you go shoot a great score the next day. Nobody has a really great explanation for it.

“Now in basketball, clearly, playing Maryland and playing UCLA, it’s a different team,” Van Pelt added. “But you’re the same team, and so, why would you maybe not shoot it as well the next game. Well, because sports are odd. This tournament is a one-off. You get 40 minutes on the clock. What can you do with those 40 minutes?”

I’ve been saying from the jump that this Alabama team can beat or lose to anyone they will face in the tournament. They do shoot a ton of threes, and against good teams they will need enough of those shots to fall in order to win. Hopefully they will.

Alabama football is hard at it.

“We have three quarterbacks in the program. Bryce is probably a little ahead of everybody else because he got a lot of reps last year. Even though he didn’t get to play that much, he got a lot of reps in practice, a lot of good carryover for him. I think he’s very confident and he’s done a really good job of preparing so far. The other two guys, they’re working and making improvement. So we’re just really focused on improvement, not really the outcome. Certainly, what do we have to do with all these players to get the outcome we want. And it’s going to be a work in progress, no doubt. But that’s why we’re practicing.”

As expected, Young is the leader in the clubhouse. It would be an upset for anyone else to win the job, but I still think Paul Tyson is going to make a strong push. I will embed the entire presser at the bottom for you.

Ticket info for A Day was announced.

Premium seating options will be offered to existing seat holders (Founders Suites, Skybox, Loge Box, Champions Club, Terrace Club, Ivory Club, and North and South Zone) for a cost of $10 per ticket. Premium seat ticketholders will receive an email from the Athletic Ticket/TIDE PRIDE Office on March 25 with their offer.

General public tickets will be offered in all other areas of the stadium at a cost of $5 per ticket. The public ticket sale will be available for purchase on April 10.

UA students may opt in for a free student ticket on April 6-7.

Free was better, but five bucks isn’t going to hurt anyone and if finances necessitate charging a nominal fee for tickets, so be it.

Jay Graham clarified his reasons for leaving Alabama.

We wish him all our best as he gets the help he needs.

Last, Lane Kiffin still has jokes.

I’ll give him this: a Nick Saban Twitter account could be gold.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.