Happy Thursday, everyone. Women’s basketball hosts 7th-ranked LSU tonight in what will be a very difficult matchup. The game will be televised on SEC Network at 8pm CT.
The Tennessee beat apparently didn’t have anything better to do than write about Alabama and Auburn, but they pose an interesting question. Who is under more pressure headed into 2025: Kalen DeBoer or Hugh Freeze?
Adams: DeBoer faces more pressure. It’s Alabama. The Tide expect national championships, and DeBoer didn’t come close last season. Actually, he lost to Vanderbilt. It doesn’t help DeBoer sees his predecessor, Nick Saban, every time he flips on the TV. Just imagine if DeBoer misses the playoff for a second straight season, or – Lord, help him – he loses the Iron Bowl. Alabama fans will help him pack for Washington.
The expectations are always higher at Alabama, which is the reason that Auburn will always be little brother. Still, missing bowl eligibility is unacceptable even to that crowd.
Say both teams lose four games this season. Who’s seat is hotter at that point? I’m interested to hear your thoughts.
The latest episode of the Alabama documentary highlights Kadyn Proctor, but this nugget from Wilkin Formby is nauseating.
“I don’t want to let them down because I know how hard we work,” Formby said about the South Florida game. “And I don’t want them to be like ‘This guy is holding us back.’ I don’t want it to ever be that way. I felt like, in that game, I let them down.”
But the frustration carried over to social media. Formby said the first thing he saw online after the South Florida game was a post that read “Kill Wilkin Formby.” Formby said those messages never really got to him, but hates that his family “had to see all that stuff.”
“When your own fanbase turns against you,” Shannon Formby, Wilkin’s father, said, “it’s very difficult for us.”
He had a very, very rough game and criticism was warranted, but there is no room for that kind of nonsense. These players are in fact human beings, and he happens to be a Tuscaloosa lifer who comes from one of the more prominent families in the area. He’s also a legacy recruit whose grandfather played for Bear Bryant before founding Taco Casa.
Colin Gay ranked the incoming freshmen in terms of instant impact, and he has Michael Carroll at the top.
Alabama sees Michael Carroll as its next Tyler Booker, a player who found his way into the Crimson Tide’s offensive line rotation in his first season and earned freshman All-American honors. Expect Carroll to have a similar opportunity at both guard spots in the spring and heading into his first fall camp.
Carroll comes in with that kind of billing, and may well slot right in for Booker. He will have some competition, of course.
Jihaad Campbell spoke about his best game, in Baton Rouge.
“I feel like I showcased my talents to the best I could,” Campbell said of the game. “There was definitely a play where I could’ve had a pick, but I was being undisciplined and bit on a drag instead of staying minus two off the hash for the deep dig route.
He continued.
“But other than that, I feel like in that game I showcased my talents in playing the run, playing as a three-tech standing up in a two-point set,” Campbell said. “Playing the middle runner, playing man-vs-man against Kyren Lacy on the goal line. Breaking a pass up, sacking the quarterback blitzing the A-gap. Coming off the edge. It was everything in that game.”
Jalen Milroe remains a polarizing prospect.
“In the NFL, you’re going to have to be able to drop back and pass first and foremost. All that running is the secondary stuff that — it’s fantastic if you can do — but you’re not going to be able to be successful if you can’t throw the ball consistently to all levels of the field. And that’s kind of the concerns that I had, not only from the season but also the Senior Bowl, uh, what he did there as well.” Edwards added. To be honest, while Milroe’s athleticism is elite, will his passing game catch up? That’s the question NFL teams will have to answer.
Last, the agents are looking to squeeze more NIL money out of EA sports.
One limiting factor for any expanded ambitions for CFB26 or future games is the money paid to active college players for the use of their name, image and likeness. More than 11,000 FBS players opted in last year, each receiving $600 and a copy of the game for their NIL participation in CFB25, for a total cost to EA of more than $6 million, though a number of athletes received more for advertising ambassador roles promoting the game. It was the largest group NIL deal in history, and for most backup players, it was their only NIL deal.
There was almost no pushback from players the first time around. The only high-profile player who made waves by not immediately opting in was Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who announced his participation in the game less than two weeks before launch.
However, a new organization is looking to negotiate higher payments for players in the future. An NIL group called Pathway Sports & Entertainment announced last week that it had begun to sign FBS players for their NIL video game rights. The company’s leaders have experience working in the NFL Players Association and the college NIL market.
We’ll see if they manage to kill the game all over again.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
