Happy Friday, everyone. The softball team hosts the annual “Easton Bama Bash” this weekend after last weekend’s perfect start. The Gym Tide have the weekend off before competing in a quad meet at the Texas Woman’s University on Monday. The women’s basketball team hosts Auburn on Sunday.

Nate Oats’ men’s squad has a breakfast date with Texas A&M tomorrow which we will have coverage for later on. The Alabama offense has been historically great this season.

Alabama’s adjusted offensive efficiency number as it stands during the Crimson Tide’s bye week is 126.2, the No. 1 offense in the country.

What’s more, that number ranks as the fifth-highest offensive efficiency in the history of KenPom. That means in the past 25 years, only four other offenses in college basketball have been more efficient than Alabama in 2024.

2015 Wisconsin – 129.0

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2018 Villanova – 127.8

1999 Duke – 127.7

2021 Gonzaga – 126.4

2024 Alabama – 126.2

All four of those above this Alabama team reached the national championship game, and that Villanova squad cut down the nets.

The basketball success we have enjoyed under Nate Oats comes with the constant speculation that he may leave us for a historically great basketball program.

Oats’ contract states his buyout is set at $12 million if he leaves before March 15 — which could be a major deterrent for potential suitors for his coaching services. The second season of his contract has a $10 million buyout, with the third season set at $7 million.

Oats’ buyout reduces to $1 million between 2026 and 2027 before being set at $0 for the remainder of his contract.

$12 million is a massive buyout for a basketball coach. Only six coaches in America earn $5M or more, with John Calipari leading the pack at north of $8M. Tom Izzo is second at $6.2M. Izzo is nearing retirement, though he has announced that it won’t be this season. That opening will be one to bite our fingernails over though, whenever it happens.

Byrne is going to have to give Nate another substantial raise this offseason. He’s currently the 25th highest paid coach, making $3.4M, while Auburn pays Bruce Pearl $5.6M.

The resident Vawl thinks that Alabama is going to finish middle of the pack in the SEC this season.

Alabama

Over/under: 9.5 wins

Topp’s Tip: UNDER. The schedule is brutal, the coaching staff is new, and the transfer losses were significant. Alabama fans will require a refresher course on patience.

Ryan Grubb spoke about his conversations with Austin Mack.

The new Seattle OC was asked at the press conference how difficult it was to leave behind some of the players he had coached before, particularly redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Mack, who transferred from Washington to Alabama to join his coaches.

“Austin’s unique in the sense that when I recruited Austin, talking to Brad and Lisa his parents, that he knew this was a possibility,” Grubb said. “Whether it was this year, next year, at some point, I told him that there’s a good chance that I wouldn’t get to see the end of his career. So I think honest conversations like that when you recruit kids help when transitions like this happen.”

You have to think that Alabama will be heavily involved in this one.

Sabb has played in 18 games during his time in Ann Arbor, with 14 of them occurring during the national championship 2023 season. He has recorded 28 tackles and one tackle for a loss in that time. When dropping back in coverage, Sabb has two interceptions, four pass breakups, and six passes defended.

Now, a big-named player is on the open market. Sabb never got the opportunity to play in a full-time starting role with the Wolverines. You would have to think playing time will be a top priority when talking to schools.

Sabb played high school football at Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 87 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

An experienced safety is obviously something that we could use in Tuscaloosa, and I’d expect Courtney Morgan and company to push hard for him. As luck would have it, Babb has a younger brother named Xavier who just picked up an offer from Alabama.

Last, Auburn is paying people way too much not to coach.

One place that Auburn spent significantly more money was on severance. A byproduct of firing two football coaches, the Tigers reported $19.9 million in severance expenses, with $18.6 million of that coming from football alone, while Alabama spent $998,286 department-wide.

Alabama brought in more ticket sales revenue, reporting $41.9 million all told in that category. Auburn collected $32.4 million.

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The Crimson Tide also had more media rights income, $55.6 million, compared to $48 million for the Tigers. Auburn didn’t bring in any football bowl revenue for the fiscal year, while Alabama collected $2 million for its win in the Sugar Bowl.

You hate to see it.

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

Roll Tide.