Happy Thursday, everyone. The Gym Tide compete in the NCAA semifinals this afternoon, needing to finish in the top 2 of a fearsome foursome in order to move on to the final round.
Competing in Fort Worth, Texas, at Dickies Arena, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri and Alabama will kick off the action in Thursday’s first semifinal (4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2) while LSU, Utah, UCLA and Michigan State will compete in the evening session (9 p.m. ET on ESPN2). The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to Saturday’s team final (4 p.m. ET on ABC), and individual winners will be named Thursday following the second semifinal.
According to ESPN analyst and 2015 NCAA all-around champion Samantha Peszek, this will be a weekend to remember.
“I think this is one of the tightest fields in a really long time, maybe ever,” Peszek said Friday. “I think all eight of these teams are extremely competitive and have shown moments of greatness this year that could contend with any team in the country.”
Best of luck to the ladies.
We learned the date of the basketball team’s trip to Illinois this season.
Head coach Nate Oats and company will face the Fighting Illini on Wednesday, November 19, at the United Center, per Made for March. The United Center is home to the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.
This is the latter portion of a neutral-site two-game series between these programs, as Alabama defeated Illinois 100-87 on Nov. 20, 2024 this past season in the Birmingham venue, Legacy Arena at BJCC for the C.M. Newton Classic.
Now we just need to know who will be on the team. Amirite?
This will shock you.
The only Crimson Tide victory to make CBS’ best-of list came from the 2023 season. In that year’s Iron Bowl, Jalen Milroe and Isaiah Bond rescued Alabama from the jaws of defeat at Jordan-Hare Stadium on a 4th-and-31 touchdown with 32 seconds left for a thrilling 27-24 win.
“Gravedigger” became the latest household name in a rivalry that’s never short on big plays that live forever (see: “Wrong Way Bo,” “The Kick” and the aforementioned “Kick Six”). I’ll always wonder why Auburn never rushed Milroe and gave him an eternity to make a game-winning throw in the first place.
There are plenty of Alabama victories that could have made CBS’ list. They include Terrence Cody’s two fourth-quarter blocked field goals against Tennessee in the 2009 edition of the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry. Cody’s “Rocky Block” as time expired preserved a 12-10 Alabama win and kept the Tide’s national championship hopes alive.
Shocking, I tell you.
Lane Kiffin loves talking about Nick Saban.
Kiffin, the former Alabama offensive coordinator under Saban, said he also learned what he called “relief syndrome.”
“It took me some time to understand, too, when we were winning and playing really well, coaching really well, he was harder on you because he didn’t want you to have relief syndrome,” Kiffin explained. …
“He just always had this way of thinking like, you never relax. So he went above and beyond to make sure people didn’t have that. We’d win a game and he comes in and just rips us. They were like, ‘Man, we played great, coached great.’ That was because he was guarding against that because he knew that could happen.”
“I do (think he misses coaching),” Kiffin told host Theo Von. “I did always think, OK, if he was going to do this, he was going to have to have, and they used to say he’s going to have to kind of have that ‘College GameDay’ spot, because he’s going to want to still, like, be involved. You know? He’s just so wired to all day long to do something for his entire life, now he’s not going to sit around and just, you know, be a grandpa? That’s not him.”
“So I think because of that, that’s helped a lot. I wouldn’t actually be surprised if he came back in the NFL, even, you know, as head coach, because he’s just so good at it, and it’s so in him that I’m not sure he won’t come back,” he added.
I don’t personally think we will see Nick back on a sideline, but anything is possible.
Kalen DeBoer is working on more in-state kids this cycle.
They have landed the top cornerback in the state, four-star athlete Zyan Gibson (Gadsden City) and four-star edge rusher Kamhariyan Johnson (Muscle Shoals).
The biggest player on their wish list is running back Ezavier Crowell from Jackson High School. Crowell has said he won’t be making his commitment announcement until the end of the year, but the Tide appear to be off to a good start with commitments from two of the biggest stars in the state.
Head coach Kalen DeBoer drew a lot of criticism from fans who thought he should have concentrated more on in-state recruits.
Yet despite having more out-of-state recruits, the Tide, according to most recruiting services, finished in the top three in recruiting last year and hope to continue that trend this year.
Last, former Falcons coach Mike Smith spoke about the Falcons’ controversial trade to acquire one Quintorris Lopez Jones, and what he meant to the franchise.
“People beat the Falcons up for the decision but it was obviously the right decision in hindsight to give up that draft capital for a guy who is almost impossible to cover in one-on-one situations.
“Julio’s numbers and production are out of this world but he also helped the rest of the offense too.
“We could throw the ball to one of the greatest ever players to play the position in Julio because of his size, speed, athleticism and toughness but it made the other guys better too because defenses would roll the coverage to wherever we’d line Julio up.
“That opened up plays for White, Gonzalez and Turner. You can’t just look at the pure statistics when you’re talking about an offensive skill player, it’s what he brings to the overall offensive production. But even when you look at the numbers, Julio’s are Hall of Fame worthy. He just helped the other guys’ numbers go up as well.
“When they would single Julio, Matt Ryan would be all over it and he would get the ball to him. That was a wonderful offensive unit and Julio did so much for the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive scheme. It wasn’t just the mind-boggling catches or numbers, he helped everyone be more productive.”
They broke the mold with him.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
