Alabama football head coach Nick Saban opened up about the team's only loss to the University of Texas as the Crimson Tide prepare for another run at the National Championship this season. In a conference call Sunday, Saban said that the Alabama football team back then is not the same one as their current stage according to MLive.com.
“We’re not the same team that we were when we played Texas earlier in the season,” Saban said.
It was a huge win for the Crimson Tide as they beat the University of Georgia in the SEC Championship game last Saturday. However, Saban said to the media that there were still doubts whether the team would be selected into the four-team College Football Playoff as their only loss was to Texas.
“There was a lot of concern about — I felt like our team deserved to be in the playoffs,” Saban said. “They earned the right to be there. I was just very anxious and hopeful that they would get the opportunity to do that. So it made a bit of a sleepless night in a lot of ways.”
Saban speaks on Alabama taking the fourth spot over FSU
Speaking of which, the decision by the committee to put Alabama in that last spot has caused a massive stir on social media and the college football world as it was between them and the undefeated Florida State Seminoles. On FSU, Saban said the Seminoles did everything they could to be in the final four teams, but guessed they didn't make it because of the injury to their star quarterback Jordan Travis.
“This is just one of those years — and there’s been other years like this — where somebody that may have been deserving got left out,” Saban said. “And Florida State certainly going undefeated was — they did everything they could to get in the playoffs and unfortunately, probably because of the injury to the quarterback, they’re not going to have that opportunity.”
Now that No. 4 Alabama knows their placement, they have their eyes set on the No. 1-ranked team in the Michigan football program at the Rose Bowl. Saban said to the media that he's eager about the game and playing in the legendary college football setting of the Rose Bowl.
“Very excited about playing in the Rose Bowl,” Saban said. “My experience in the Big Ten [with Michigan State], we always referred to it as ‘the granddaddy of them all.’”
Saban briefly previews the matchup against Michigan
During the conference call to the media, Saban gave his surface-level scouting report, prefacing his statement with “the little that I have seen” from the Michigan football team. He mentions the quarterback play and the defense being a great unit.
“The little that I have seen is they’ve got a great defensive team,” he said. “I know they’re one of the best defensive teams in the country. They do a great job of attacking the ball and getting turnovers. They’re very productive on offense. Quarterback is a good player, good runner, great balance. … We certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for what they’ve been able to accomplish all year long.”
The Crimson Tide finished the season at 12-1 after a struggle to start the season, but as with every Saban-led Alabama team, you can never count them out. The prolific head coach is on the quest to capture his eighth national championship, trying to add to his already legendary resume. However, in the way are the Michigan Wolverines, and if they can get past them, they either have a title game against Washington or a rematch against Texas.
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