The Alabama Crimson Tide are spending the weekend before the Christmas break preparing for their bowl game matchup against the Michigan Wolverines in Tampa, Fla., on New Year’s Eve.
No, the ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly the Outback Bowl) isn’t what Alabama players, fans or coach Kalen DeBoer wanted, but the Crimson Tide (9-3 overall) still have a lot to play for.
Alabama is hoping to extends its streak of 10-win seasons to 17 straight years and can do that with a win over a Michigan program (7-5) that also had higher expectations after winning the national championship a season ago.
Players like quarterback Jalen Milroe and others could improve their NFL Draft stock, should they decide to declare.
On Saturday, former Alabama coach Nick Saban and the rest of ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew were in Columbus for that night’s first-round College Football Playoff game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Ohio State Buckeyes.
The crew of Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and celebrity guest picker A.J. Hawk weighed in with their predictions on Alabama vs. Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
“There is nobody in Tennessee rooting for Alabama, but I’ve got to go with the Crimson Tide on this one,” Saban said while acknowledging the large contingent of Vols fans in Columbus.
McAfee agreed with Saban, as did Corso and Hawk. Howard and Herbstreit picked Michigan to beat Alabama.
Kickoff for Alabama vs. Michigan is set for 11 a.m. CT on Dec. 31. The game can be seen on ESPN.
Nick Saban predicts SEC bowl game winners and losers
Saban picked the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and his former assistant Brent Key to beat Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores in the Birmingham Bowl next Friday, as well as the Texas A&M Aggies to beat the USC Trojans in the Las Vegas Bowl.
For the Citrus Bowl, Saban took LaNorris Sellers and the South Carolina Gamecocks to beat Illinois on New Year’s Eve in Orlando.
In non-SEC bowl games like the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Saban took Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes to defeat Iowa State on Dec. 28. He also picked Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes to defeat the BYU Cougars in this year’s Alamo Bowl next Saturday.
“I’m not allowed to pick against Deion. Miss Terry’s orders,” Saban quipped when picking Coach Prime and the Buffs.
Saban predicts first-round CFP winners
For Saturday’s College Football Playoff games, Saban took Penn State to defeat the SMU Mustangs, the Texas Longhorns to beat the Clemson Tigers, and Ohio State to beat Tennessee.
“Ohio State had great expectations for this season,” Saban said. “Most of the teams that I had the opportunity to coach that had great expectations and had a failing (in) the season made a great comeback and played great in the next game, and I think Ohio State will do that tonight.”
[lawrence-related id=98094,98077,97941,97883,97889]