Paul Finebaum explains why Nick Saban said Auburn may be the best team Alabama will face
Alabama coach Nick Saban caused plenty of raised eyebrows and neck jerks on Monday when he described Auburn as the, “best team we’ve played, probably, so far.”
Obviously that raised knee-jerk reactions about LSU after the Bayou Bengals recently clinched the SEC West and earlier beat the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. But on ESPN’s “Get Up,” SEC Network host Paul Finebaum explained Saban’s reasoning.
“He’s saying it because he’s Nick Saban and he wanted to throw something up in the air and get people talking, but he’s really talking to the committee,” Finebaum said. “… He’s trying to get them to think. He’s trying to get them to do some comparison shopping between Alabama and Utah. Because the conventional wisdom now is if Utah wins out, and wins the Pac-12 Championship Game, they are going to jump Alabama.”
ESPN analyst Desmond Howard then weighed in and said Saban wants people to forget about the LSU loss. But he also asked about where we are in college football that the greatest college football coach is now into politics.
“That’s to try to jockey for one of the top four spots,” Howard said.
Finebaum recalled that two years ago, Saban spent two hours on ESPN’s “College GameDay” lobbying for his case, and, “you guys let him.”
Howard replied, “He didn’t politic like this when he said blatantly, this team is the best team we’ve seen. Forget about the team we saw in Tuscaloosa.”
Finebaum later in the segment said if he were in Grapevine, Texas with the Playoff committee, he would argue whether Alabama deserves to be ahead of Georgia at No. 4.
He was specifically talking about defensive line play. And in that regard said that Auburn would be the best team they’ve faced all year. In other words, Auburn has the best DLine they’ve faced all year. He’s right.
Paul, as usual, doesn’t know what he is talking about and had he listened for even just a slight bit of context, he would know. But even that is too much for him. I cannot believe I am defending Saban, but this is so dumb. Even Bama fans can figure it out, and that’s really saying something. Paul is too busy worrying about playing it off as some sort of power play to convince the committee to let Bama walk into the playoff. Not going to happen. In short, Paul is an idiot…again.
I agree, Finebaum needs to go and as I have said before he is an embarrassment to the SEC!!!
Exactly…its amazing how these “journalists” only present half of what was said…he was talking about the defense of auburn’s and hes correct…Even the few intelligent LSU fans would agree that the au defense is much better than the LSU defense…And Desmond Howard running off at the mouth that Saban is doing “politics” with the BCS is not shockingly another ignorant statement from him…What is Coach Saban supposed to say?….That he dont think we deserve to go?…It seems like Desmond would be much more concerned with the dumpster fire his alma mater is producing at Michigan…Year after year it’s the same ole same ole, “Michigan is back”, yet it’s the same results…Texas and Notre Dame are two others in the same boat
BamaRulz17: “Even the few intelligent LSU fans…” says a fan of The Fighting Updykes. Or is it The Fighting Christopher Honeys (Bama fan who shot another man in Bend, Oregon this month because The Fighting Updykes lost to LSU)? Or is it The Fighting Fulkersons” (the Bama man who shot and killed his friend in anger after the LSU game because The Fighting Updykes lost)?
The list goes on.
How about saying “Even the few intelligent Bammer fans”?
Bama living inside your head. Look how much you wrestle with Bama names while the rest of us don’t care. You’re rambling like a wacko that has a hundred pictures up on the wall with a red string connecting all of them to some grand conspiracy that only exists in your tiny mind.
When you roll over in bed and see your cousin-sister… Roll Tide.
This comes from someone who puts 17 in his handle as though the entire rest of the college football world doesn’t know that the university of Alabama gave themselves several more championships than they actually won, (some of which they should really be embarrassed from), and then has the audacity to call other fans less than intelligent! Good try Gomer, but as they say in your neck of the woods, that dog don’t hunt!
Yankee Tiger? Yuck, what a terrible combo. Whatever number of championships you (as if you matter) want to give us is still more than enough to own you.
Sooo, there are other sports out there and last time I checked his Yankees had managed to win a couple of Championships. I hate the freaking Yankees (Braves), but you really can’t talk smack to a team with 28 World Championships (Even if they missed one this decade).
Or maybe he is just a yankee.
It looks like another apologist didn’t see the interview. He was not talking specifically about the defense. He said team, but then caught himself and threw the probably in there. I actually watched the press conference.
Touché, MC!
Bama fans and their trailer park minds trying to take shots at LSU fans (or any fans) because you’re not the best this year. Stupid…
You guys kill trees and actual people over football. Who are the stupid people again?
You realize that whenever they make a movie based in Alabama they have to film it somewhere else? Because Bama fans can’t read the script…
He was not talking about the line, he was talking about the TEAM and the environment.
I used to watch his show every day( not whole show, but parts) and I quit this year cause all he does is after the fact and never sticks to original statements and then shouts everyone down from his bully pulpit. He is no better than Stephen A, Kanell, Klatt, and all the others who don’t have a clue. He wants to live off supposedly standing up to Saban at Sec Media days but Saban couldn’t care less. He acts like idiot whenever Laura Rutlege is on set cause he knows she steals his attention. Pathetic.
Saban probably said this about Western Carolina too. It’s just his MO.
Well here is the actual quote.
“This is the best team we’ve played probably so far this year,” Saban said of Auburn. “And this will be the most challenging place we’ve played so far”.
“A real challenge for our players and our team.”
He may have meant the defense which is not doubt the best they have faced till this point , But that isn’t what he said.
Not that I care one bit. He’s a good coach looking to motivate his team. And likely trying to get the committee to look closer.
But dosent every coach?
It sounds like Saban may be setting everybody up for an Alabama loss. He doesn’t seem very confident. It’ll be interesting to see how Mac Jones handles a responds to a really good D in a very hostile environment. If I were a bama fan, I wouldn’t be looking forward to the pkayoffs just yet.
I could agree with this but because of one point that continually seems to go unnoticed by everyone. Bama’s O-Line hasn’t been truly tested this season. Tua could have been threat to Auburns D-Line because he’s incredible at getting the snap and getting rid of the ball instantly. I mean, his ability in this regard is just uncanny so the O-Line doesn’t have to work as hard…probably why the Vols and Bulldogs caught them slipping.
Mac Jones isn’t Tua so the O-Line will have to be ready and I don’t think they are because they’ve been spoiled by Tua.
Maybe a “win one for Tua” kinda deal.
Saban is begging for votes and thats sad. I thought he was the best coach in college football? Well guess what that ole coonass kicked his ass up and down the field
‘Ole coonass’? Wow, what a great rep you are for Louisiana. To finally win a game after a decade of getting your butt handed to you on the reg is pathetic. You should still be ashamed of all the losing and getting shutout on your home field twice.
And why is it sad that Saban is working to get his team in position for a playoff spot anyway he can? What is he supposed to play it cool and act like he doesn’t care because he’s the greatest? That’s the kind of thinking that separates you from the Sabans of the world.
Fans should be ashamed? That is the most ridiculous comment on this site in a while.
Seems BAMA fans think THEY beat LSU all those years. It’s just a game and LSU fans should be ashamed for their team losing to BAMA. Lol.
And it’s funny how everyone (like Finebaum) just knows how people think.
Saban is simply trying to make the resume look better.
Trying to inflate everything that is Auburn. Too bad Auburn didn’t do their part and beat Georgia, but none of that matters.
Beat Auburn, and that’s essentially a better win than if they had beat LSU.
When you have no real resume builder accomplishment, no win over even one top 20 team, are 0 for 2 against your last two ranked teams.
Saban needs to start selling ice to Eskimos. It’s all he’s got…
I’ve tried to accept the fact that we’re not worthy of the CFP. Guess we’ll have to get pissed and go hammer Virginia Tech or UVA in Miami.
He’s just talking them up for the commitee. At the end of the day Bama is going to have to hang their hat on beating a 4 loss team (If they beat them). Saban is politicking.
All the playoff talk is great and a lot of fun. You can talk schedule, like opponents ect…..but when you really take a look at it. Outside of Clemson, Ohio State and LSU….what team left is better than Bama? What team outside of those 3 would you bet your hard earned money on to beat Bama on a neutral field? I’ll answer that for ya……nobody. Bama is one of the top 4 teams undeserving or not.
If FBS college football cut back the regular season to 11 games and went to a 16 team playoff do people really think fans would be in the streets demanding a return to the old 4 team playoff? Bull!. We would have a real playoff and a lot of teams would show that they were better than people thought. We would have fairness, approaching the democracy this country claims to have but seldom really has. People who control the various aspects of life in American don’t want fairness, they want money. Otherwise we would’ve had a real playoff many years ago.
Money will always trump( no pun intended) fairness.