Alabama
Nick Saban Wants Alabama Balance, Not Competitive Balance in NCAA College Football
Alabama head coach Nick Saban appears to be extremely annoyed on the prospect of not having an excessive aggressive benefit in Tuscaloosa.
So what’s a coach who has been the benefactor of a school soccer panorama designed to maintain him draped in nationwide championship gold on the expense of faculties like Arkansas to do when a “decrease class” of school soccer program will get an opportunity to lastly compete on a extra even taking part in discipline?
Declare that is unfair for the opposite colleges and cling desperately to “custom.”
Make no mistake. The one one who sees what’s taking place in school soccer as unfair is Saban.
And perhaps Ohio State, however no less than Ryan Day has sense sufficient to not whine about it.
Saban would love you to imagine he is simply searching for the Rice, Vanderbilt and Syracuses of the world. He simply desires these packages which are much less 5-star enhanced to proceed to have a purpose to get off the bed every morning ought to they by chance stumble into somewhat success and obtain a .500 report from time to time.
“My largest concern is aggressive stability,” Saban instructed the “At all times School Soccer” podcast. “The NFL — which I used to be concerned in for eight years — each rule they’ve is to create aggressive stability and if they may have each group go 8–8 so on the finish of a season each group was taking part in their final recreation to get within the playoffs they might be ecstatic. As a result of how a lot fan curiosity does that create?”
These sorts of information acquired groups into the Windsong Ranch Subdivision Bowl underneath the glory days of two years in the past to which Saban so wistfully harkens again. Until you had been Alabama, the one path to the playoffs was a convention championship and no a couple of loss in considered one of three conferences, not a .500 report at Louisiana-Monroe.
Louisiana Monroe Warhawks extensive receiver Jahmeel Rice (84) rushes in opposition to LSU Tigers security Cameron Lewis (31) and LSU Tigers cornerback Cordale Flott (25) through the second half at Tiger Stadium.
Stephen Lew – USA TODAY Sports activities
However Saban has programmed himself like Dude from “Free Man,” so everybody step again and prepare to be hit as soon as once more with the catchphrase.
“…We’ll lose aggressive stability,” Saban mentioned. “Which the whole lot we’ve all the time performed in school soccer is to keep up aggressive stability. Identical scholarship, everybody needed to play by the identical guidelines whether or not it was recruiting or no matter. Proper now that’s not how it’s.”
Apparently the King of Tuscaloosa thinks that previous to this previous season each faculty was given an allotment of two 5-stars, 4 4-stars, and the remainder of the group was solely allowed to be stuffed out with 3-stars whereas all NCAA colleges cut up all income evenly.
That will be aggressive stability.
Fairly positive that is not one thing Saban would need or that might preserve the Bama boosters blissful if he pitched it to the NCAA. However he saved on with the guise that he is solely in it for the little man.
Please pay no consideration to the paper cuts he retains getting from all the cash raining down round him from different packages when he is out on the recruiting path that preserve shaving the high-end recruits he used to stockpile off his backside line.
Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Photographs
“We don’t have any guardrails on what we’re doing proper now,” Saban mentioned. “Now we have no restrictions on who can do what. Some individuals are gonna be able to doing sure issues different folks aren’t going to be succesful.”
Let’s pull that fantastic print from between the strains and blow it up on the projector for the blokes within the again.
What he is saying is that now “some” packages might be able to doing sure issues different packages cannot, which is not acceptable. It disrupts the established order of aggressive stability from earlier than when solely Alabama was able to doing sure issues different packages could not.
Dallas Turner-Alabama Crimson Tide
Butch Dill/USA TODAY Photographs
Too many packages are getting onto Alabama’s facet of the size and there is solely room for Nick Saban to unfold out over there in his thoughts.
Here is the place the issue truly lies for Saban. Now that each one the cash is above board, each college value its salt as both an academic establishment or athletic program can now lure away athletes who would have in any other case gone to Alabama to sit down on the bench for 3 years earlier than starring their senior yr.
Now a rich donor at Virginia can pitch in sufficient cash to siphon away a participant who could be considered as a famous person in Charlottesville. In the meantime, the child will get three further years of taking part in time and some thousand extra {dollars} in his pocket than he would have in Tuscaloosa.
What actually strikes concern in Saban’s coronary heart is what’s going to occur to his program if the sleeping large within the College Park suburb of Dallas wakes up. If Saban is tossing his cookies on the considered the harm boosters at Texas A&M and Texas have performed, wait till these boosters’ bosses who help SMU begin throwing cash round.
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President George W. Bush watches from the sidelines because the Memphis Tigers tackle the SMU Mustangs on the Moody Coliseum on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020.
Joe Rondone – USA TODAY Sports activities
The money laying round College Park and Highland Park may pay a single participant greater than what Saban’s boosters are paying his entire group.
School soccer won’t have taken the Mustangs too critically at first shook out over the previous yr, however no program in America stands to profit extra from the brand new guidelines.
Plans are already underway to develop Ford Stadium to a bigger capability, and the pitch to conferences to deliver a faculty sitting within the nation’s fifth largest TV market within the coronary heart of probably the most soccer hungry society in America is not going to go unnoticed.
SMU operating again Ulysses Bentley IV (7) tries to go over an ACU defender throughout Saturday’s recreation at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas on Sept. 4, 2021. The Mustangs gained 56-9.
Jordan Hofeditz – USA TODAY Sports activities
SMU’s boosters will have the ability to fund a greater recruiting class than Alabama and by no means drive greater than 100 miles from their houses to ship the paperwork.
Whereas it is in all probability not the very best information for Razorback followers, it terrifies Saban.
Faculties that had been held down have a gap to alter the circumstance and notion that was as soon as stomped into them by the Alabamas of the world. Members throughout the SEC like Arkansas, Kentucky and South Carolina will proceed to choose off Saban’s recruiting targets right here and there, slowly draining his infinite provide of expertise.
Think about what is going on on down in Southeast Texas and you will note why Saban could also be in a straight jacket by the point signing date comes this winter.
What’s he going to do when after 4 years of this there truly is aggressive stability?
Most likely retire.
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On Friday night, the 2025 Norman Super Regional officially began when the Alabama Crimson Tide and Oklahoma Sooners collided in Game 1 between the NCAA Tournament’s No. 15 and No. 2 overall seeds, respectively.
However, it would be all Oklahoma in Game 1 on Friday night, as the Sooners claimed an early lead with a two-run home run in the third inning, and would never look back on their way to a 3-0 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.
Because of this, it now means that the Sooners are one win away from a trip to the Women’s College World Series, while Alabama is faced with a must-win Game 2 on Saturday in order to keep their season alive, and force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday.
Here’s how to watch Game 2 of the Alabama vs. Oklahoma Norman Super Regional series today, including time, TV schedule, and streaming information:
What channel is Alabama vs. Oklahoma on today?
TV Channel: ESPN
Radio: Catfish 100.1 FM
Livestream: Fubo (free trial), ESPN+
Game 2 of the Alabama vs. Oklahoma series will be broadcast live on ESPN. Streaming options for the game include ESPN+, as well as Fubo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Watch Alabama vs. Oklahoma live on Fubo (free trial)
Watch Alabama vs. Oklahoma live on ESPN+
Alabama vs. Oklahoma time today
- Date: Saturday, May 24
- Start Time: 3 p.m. ET
Played from Love’s Field in Norman, Oklahoma, Game 2 of the Alabama vs. Oklahoma super regional will be played Saturday, May 24 at 3 p.m. ET.
Alabama vs. Oklahoma predictions, picks
Prediction: Alabama 2, Oklahoma 4
This is a must-win contest for Alabama, and I expect the Crimson Tide to certainly put up a fight here in hopes of keeping their season alive. However, I’ll go with Oklahoma to close this series out with a close victory here.
2025 college softball NCAA Tournament super regional matchups
- No. 16 Oregon vs. Liberty
- No. 3 Florida vs. Georgia – Florida leads 1-0
- No. 8 South Carolina vs. No. 9 UCLA – South Carolina leads 1-0
- No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Clemson – Clemson leads 1-0
- No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 12 Texas Tech – Texas Tech wins 2-0
- No. 7 Tennessee vs. Nebraska – Nebraska leads 1-0
- No. 4 Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – Ole Miss leads 1-0
- No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 15 Alabama – Oklahoma leads 1-0
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After losing Buzz Williams this offseason, the Texas A&M Aggies decided to go in a different direction for their next head coach.
Rather than hire another power conference retread, the Aggies hired former Samford coach Bucky McMillan to lead the way. McMillan, 41, led the Bulldogs to a 99-52 record (54-29 SoCon) and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024, their first in 24 years, over his five seasons with the team.
Now, he’ll look to lead the Aggies to similar success in probably the best conference in the country.
Already, one of the premier coaches in the SEC is taking notice. When speaking at the Regions Traditions Pro-Am golf tournament, Alabama’s Nate Oats shared that he will be watching McMillan’s career with great interest.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Oats said, per On3. “I got here, I talked to Bucky, and I talked to him even about an assistant role. Then I told him, like, ‘Look, man, you need to get to wherever you’re going to get as an assistant,’ and fortunate for him, he’s able to jump right from high school head coach. ‘Just do it on your own accord, how good as you are, and that’ll be better.’ And he did.”
Oats has a somewhat similar background to McMillan. The 50-year-old’s first collegiate head coaching role came at Buffalo, where he led the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament three times in four seasons. Now, he’s one of the premier coaches in the country after leading the Crimson Tide to five straight tournament appearances, including a Final Four in 2024 and an Elite Eight in 2025.
“I mean, he got to Samford, hit it out of the park,” Oats said. “You know, me and him have talked a lot. Shoot, I’ve talked to him even a few times since he’s got to A&M. He says that the success I’ve had here, I think, helped him a little bit with just high school coaches can do it,” Oats said. “And I think it’s great for all the really good high school coaches around. I mean, he went right from high school to Samford. He hit it out of the park, and now he’s in our league.”
It will take some time for McMillan to establish himself in the SEC, especially when he’s basically had to build the roster from scratch this offseason. If he’s able to translate his game from a mid-major conference to a power conference, though, he might just have a chance to become a premier coach like Oats is.
The National Weather Service is adding to its number of confirmed tornadoes from Tuesday’s round of severe weather.
The National Weather Service in Huntsville continued conducting storm surveys on Thursday and have added two tornadoes to the ongoing count, which stands at eight.
That number will likely climb, with additional storm surveys ongoing, forecasters said.
One of the newly confirmed tornadoes was an EF-1 with top winds estimated at 110 mph in Jackson County.
The other new addition to the list was another EF-1 with 100 mph winds in Marshall County near Allens Crossroads:
The weather service in Huntsville also did storm surveys on Wednesday and confirmed three other tornadoes — and two of them were EF-2s.
The weather service in Birmingham also confirmed three EF-1 tornadoes in central Alabama from storms Tuesday and early Wednesday.
In addition, straight-line winds of up to 105 mph were noted in far western Limestone, southeastern Lauderdale, northern Lawrence and northern Colbert counties, according to the weather service in Huntsville.
Here are the tornadoes confirmed so far:
- Killingsworth Cove Tornado (Madison County): EF-2, maximum winds 134 mph. Path length 1.41 miles; path width 175 yards. No injuries.
- Madison Tornado (Limestone and Madison counties): EF-2, top winds 125 mph. Path length 13.15 miles; path width 380 yards. No injuries.
- South Athens Tornado (Limestone County): EF-1, top winds 105 mph. Path length 2.76 miles; path width 160 yards. No injuries.
- Saks Tornado (Calhoun County): EF-1, top winds 95 mph. Path length 3.51 miles; path width 0 yards. No injuries.
- County Road 67 Tornado (Cleburne County): EF-1, top winds 95 mph. Path length 1.97 miles; path width 550 yards. No injuries.
- County Road 185 Tornado (Bullock County): EF-1, top winds 105 mph. Path length 4.98 miles; path width 900 yards. No injuries.
- Allens Crossroads Tornado (Marshall County): EF-1, top winds 100 mph. Path length 3.39 miles; path width 150 yards. No injuries.
- Trenton Tornado (Jackson County): EF-1, top winds 110 mph. Path length 10.46 miles; path width 275 yards. No injuries.
See more on the north Alabama tornadoes from the National Weather Service in Huntsville here.
See more on the central Alabama tornadoes from the National Weather Service in Birmingham here.
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