University of Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart’s press conference at the Sugar Bowl took a bit of a left turn Sunday when some reporters were surprised to learn that the he had talked to coaches in the Big Ten about facing Ohio State.

The initial comment came from question about whether the Buckeyes were more like a Southeastern Conference team in size and speed than what’s been more typical of the Big Ten of late.

“I think you have coach loyalties,” Smart said. “When all things are closed, and you’re behind closed doors, you have coach loyalties, not conference loyalties. And (Urban Meyer’s) got a lot of loyalty to our conference because he did a good job in it. He’s been around it. The same way with some of the guys in his. So it’s mixed emotions there. But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what they tell you, it’s what you do.”

Both Meyer and Nick Saban have been head coaches in the Big Ten and SEC, as Meyer was previously at Florida and Saban used to coach at Michigan State (1995-99), and still have strong ties to their former leagues. For example one of Meyer’s former assistant coaches is Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, and Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio used to be a Saban assistant.

The reporters wouldn’t let it go, though, asking if coaches have an agreement not to cross conference lines for games like the national semifinal to be played Jan. 1 (8:30 p.m. ESPN), and Smart essentially answered he had never heard of such a thing. When pressed on why an SEC coach might help Urban Meyer, he responded: “I don’t know, maybe they like Urban Meyer. Maybe they’re good friends with him. You tell me why they would want to help him. I don’t know.”

Still the issue won’t die, leading to the following exchange:

Reporter: “You said several Big Ten coaches have given you some information …”

Smart: “I wouldn’t say information. I wouldn’t say information. I think everybody wants to talk about that and focus on that. Where all we’re saying is you share different ideas as far as how good is this team, are they good. Because we’re going to do what we do defensively. We’re not going to go get ideas from somebody else. When you say information, it’s do they look like an SEC team? Are they built like an SEC team? Yes, they’re fast and big and they’re physical. That kind of information. Not defensive information or secrets. There are no secrets to this game. You’ve got to block. You’ve got to tackle. You’ve got to be physical. You’ve got to be fast. That’s what we hope to do.”

Reporter: “Did that surprise you, even that, because usually you think …”

Smart: “Doesn’t surprise me that anybody in the SEC would talk to Coach Meyer either.”

Reporter: “Why?”

Smart: “Because in the league, if they know him and trust him, they’re going to talk coaches talk. You know what you believe. Coaches that are friends talk. That’s what friends do. The loyalties lie within the coaching, not necessarily within conference.”

Hours later, Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman wasn’t surprised to learn that Smart and the other Alabama coaches had been talking to his league counterparts.

“We’re in this thing to give our guys the best advantage we can to win and whatever is within the rules we’re going to try to give them that advantage,” he said. “If somebody that’s played us two or three times has a little nugget here or there that they can share with them, so be it. The last time I checked we were 24-0 against those Big Ten teams in three years in the regular season. So it doesn’t bother me.”

Herman revealed that Ohio State had been talking to SEC coaches as well.

“Yeah, you ask around,” Herman said. “’What hurt them? You guys have played them.’ Friends, I’m not just going to go pick up a phone and cold call a guy at Tennessee you’ve never met, ‘This is Tom Herman at Ohio State tell me about Alabama.’ You’ve got buddies in the business and you call, catch up with, Merry Christmas, and, by the way, you guys scored 32 points against them two years ago, anything you saw that might could help us?

“So, yeah, it happens.”