Jumbo Package: Bowls get involved in NIL, Tide women win by 64

Happy Friday, everyone. We would be remiss not to point out what the women’s basketball squad has going on right now. All they’ve done is win the last three games by a combined 136 points.

Thursday afternoon’s 64-point win is tied for the eighth-largest margin of victory in Crimson Tide history. Alabama, which is coming off a 62-point win (92-30) vs. Norfolk State Dec. 18, captured wins of 60-or-more points in the same month for the first time in school history. It also marks the third time the Tide has had two 60-plus point wins in the same year.

UA had four players record double-digits in the win. Karly Weathers paced the team with career highs in points (21) and rebounds (6), while adding three steals on the day. Brittany Davis tallied 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Aaliyah Nye (12) and Megan Abrams (10) also reached double digits.

Alabama enters conference play at 11-2, though the schedule has been pretty soft. They were picked to finish 10th in the league at media days. Time to see what they’ve got.

An Alabama staffer is moving on to North Texas.

There are bowl games on for you today, including Wake Forest vs. Mizzou this evening.

Losing the likes of wide receiver Dominic Lovett, who transferred to Georgia, hurts this fragile passing offense, but 5-star Luther Burden is still very much in the gameplan for quarterback Brady Cook. The two will pair up against a Wake Forest defense that ranks 116th nationally in pass yards allowed and 93rd in points surrendered coming in.

It may not be that exciting, but it is college football.

If anything can reduce bowl opt outs, ESPN getting involved in NIL would do it.

At the Memphis-based Liberty Bowl, a local sponsor is running a campaign to raise money for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, also in Memphis. Players from both Arkansas and Kansas have sent tweets that include a link where fans can donate and an explanation that half the money raised will go to the children’s hospital and the other half goes to players who are helping with promotion.

ESPN, which operates 17 bowl games and several college basketball contests, has not yet been directly involved in NIL deals associated with those events. The company is “investigating the viability, application and possible outcomes of NIL for its business,” said Clint Overby, vice president of ESPN Events.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Last, Blake Barnett spoke about his time at Alabama on a podcast.

“I wasn’t able to take advantage of those two drives and, because of that, it was from that point on, Jalen’s job,” he explained. “What led to the decision of me transferring and what was tough for me to comprehend at that time at that age was the sense of clarity on why things happened. At the time, it was tough me to understand why I wasn’t given transparency.”

In other words, there wasn’t much assurance from Saban or Kiffin in regard to where he fit with the Tide. One of the things Barnett was looking for coming out of high school, he said, was a relationship with a head coach or offensive coordinator.

The dude just wasn’t good enough to live up to his five-star hype. That can be a tough pill to swallow for a young player, particularly a five star who had been recruited by every major program under the sun.

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

Roll Tide.