Jumbo Package: Preseason basketball scrimmage proved critical, football assistants get contracts

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Not too much going on today, but Nick Kelly has a nice story on the preseason scrimmage that had many fans concerned, but wound up being a watershed moment for the team that finished conference tournament play ranked atop the polls.

Griffen and Clowney round out the elite freshman class that includes Miller and Jaden Bradley. They were the main recipients of that welcome-to-college-basketball game. They were facing a veteran TCU team.

“It’s a little bit of a strategic play in doing that,” Oats said. “I wouldn’t want to say I want to get drilled, as I’m super competitive. We’re trying to win the scrimmage. It wasn’t the worst thing, you lose the scrimmage.”

From there, Alabama went to work. Oats told his staff they had a lot of work to do. The Crimson Tide had 22 turnovers.

“This is great,” Oats told them. “Now we know what we’ve got to do as far as work goes.”

A little humility never hurts.

Women’s basketball fell all the way to a 10 seed thanks to the late season swoon,

The Tide was announced Sunday evening as the No. 10 seed in the Seattle 3 region and will meet No. 7 seed Baylor in Storrs, Connecticut in Saturday’s first round game. The tip-off time has yet to be announced.

If Alabama advances to the second round, it will play the winner of No. 2 seed UConn and No. 15 seed Vermont.

Kelvin Sampson is not very happy about playing Auburn in Birmingham.

The Cougars’ reward? A potential second-round matchup with ninth-seeded Auburn in a de facto home game for Bruce Pearl’s team in Birmingham.

“Who’s the 8-9 in our bracket? Birmingham, right,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said when asked Sunday about Houston’s tournament draw. “So Auburn gets to play in Birmingham? Maybe we should have been a 9-seed.”

The funny thing is that Birmingham is probably the most geographically favorable site for Houston. It’s just that Auburn is there. We don’t like them either, Kelvin.

Dicky V thinks Alabama will win it all.

“I have to go with the Crimson Tide,” he said. “Miller is that good. I really like that Alabama team.”

He added the Longhorns will find a way to defeat Gonzaga in the Final Four to advance to the title game against Alabama.

That’s right: Alabama vs. Texas for the national championship. Not in football but basketball.

You decide if that’s good or bad.

In football news, the assistant coaches got their contracts.

Both Rees and Steele are set to earn $1.9 million apiece in their first seasons with the Crimson Tide. Rees, formerly of Notre Dame, was hired as Alabama’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this offseason. His salary is set to increase $100,000 each year of the contract’s length. Steele is no stranger to UA, having spent two previous stints in Tuscaloosa, and returns to serve as the defensive coordinator. Both coordinator contracts are 3-year deals.

Alabama’s spring game will be streaming only for the second straight year because folks want to see Prime Time’ debut in Boulder.

For Alabama football, the Crimson Tide’s 2023 A-Day Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+/SEC Network+ with no option to watch on the regular network. The streaming-only format marks the second year in a row that Alabama will not be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.

Last, big Dalvin got paid.

It reportedly will be a four-year, $57 million deal with $27.5 million guaranteed.

As usual, the full structure and breakdown will reveal what the contract is truly worth, and how long it’s likely to last.

Tomlinson lasted two years in Minnesota, after four with the Giants.

Last year, Tomlinson appeared in 13 games, with six starts. He had 2.5 sacks.

Bradley Bozeman got a nice extension from Carolina as well.

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

Roll Tide.