WATCH: Bo Scarbrough reveals Nick Saban’s halftime talk during 2018 title game

Former Alabama RB Bo Scarbrough recalls what it was like to play for Nick Saban.

In this video, which is one in our series on NCAA football greats, Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough talks with former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray about what it was like to play under Nick Saban.

Specifically, it’s Scarbrough discussing Coach Saban’s speech during halftime of their 2018 national title game against Clemson.

If you’re just joining us for this video series, we’ve already spoken with Vince Young and Hunter Renfrow, and look forward to featuring more great stars of the game in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

[vertical-gallery id=967117]

WATCH: Bo Scarbrough reveals Nick Saban’s message before Clemson title game

Former Alabama RB Bo Scarbrough recalls what it was like to play for Nick Saban.

In this video, which is one in our series on NCAA football greats, Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough talks with former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray about what it was like to play under Nick Saban.

Specifically, it’s Scarbrough discussing Coach Saban’s speech before their national title game against Clemson.

If you’re just joining us for this video series, we’ve already spoken with Vince Young and Hunter Renfrow, and look forward to featuring more great stars of the game in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

[vertical-gallery id=967117]

WATCH: Bo Scarbrough on coach Nick Saban’s message prior to Clemson game

Former Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough sits down to discuss Alabama’s mentality going into the Clemson game back in 2018.

[jwplayer aXGhfDLO]

Bo Scarbrough was an important part of Alabama’s offense for several years. The former Tide running back witnessed a lot of the back-and-forth with Clemson since Dabo Swinney brought the Tigers to national prominence.

Scarbrough has been on the winning side of things, but he’s also been on the losing side.

Alabama beat Clemson in the first national championship matchup back in 2016, but Deshaun Watson and the rest of the Tigers got some payback the following season in 2017. These two teams, once again, met in the College Football Playoff in 2018, but it was in the semifinals.

Scarbrough sat down with Aaron Murray as part of the Campus Lore Championship Moments series presented by Amway and XS Energy Drink to discuss Alabama’s mentality prior to playing Clemson for the third year in a row after losing.

“We didn’t really look at it as a revenge game. It wasn’t a revenge game for us. That was a statement. We were trying to make a statement when we stepped out on that field because we had embarrassed ourselves the year before against them.

The year after that, we wanted to make it a statement. Once we stepped on that field, Clemson was not going to beat us. We were going to play our hearts out.”

Scarbrough then went on to talk about what Nick Saban had to say about the game, including to not play the game off emotions. It wasn’t about revenge, it was about making a statement — like the Alabama running back had mentioned.

It’s a fantastic clip that really gives great insight into the approach for Saban and his teams during these so-called “revenge games.” I would highly recommend watching it in it’s entirety, which can be found in the video above.

Scarbrough finished his career at Alabama with 1,800 total yards (1,512 rushing, 288 receiving) and 20 rushing touchdowns. He was then a late round pick in the NFL, where he has bounced around with teams such as the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Oklahoma finishes regular season at No. 7 in Amway Coaches Poll

Oklahoma finished off the regular season at No. 7 in the Amway Coaches Poll after winning the Big 12 title on Saturday.

Oklahoma defeated Iowa State 27-21 on Saturday to claim a sixth consecutive Big 12 championship and finish the regular season at 8-2.

After starting the season 1-2, the Sooners finished the year on a seven-game winning streak that almost got them into the College Football Playoff, but they came up just short at No. 6 in the final CFP rankings.

In the final Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, Oklahoma wound up at No. 7.

Staying at the top after claiming an SEC title in a win over Florida is Alabama. The rest of the top five features the same teams but in a different order. Clemson moves up to No. 2 after winning the ACC Championship Game, Ohio State goes up to No. 3 after winning the Big Ten title, and Notre Dame fell down to No. 4 after their big loss to the Tigers. Texas A&M remained at No. 5.

Other Big 12 teams in the rankings include Iowa State at No. 12, Oklahoma State at No. 21 and Texas at No. 23.

The Sooners will now get set to conclude their season against the Florida Gators on Dec. 30th in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

[vertical-gallery id=22284]

[jwplayer W93oxLtY]

Alabama sticks at No. 1 in Amway Coaches Poll after SEC championship win

Once again, the Alabama Crimson Tide checked in at No. 1 overall in the latest Amway Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.

[jwplayer W93oxLtY]

The latest edition of the Amway Coaches Poll is now out, and once again, the Alabama Crimson Tide finds itself sitting in the top spot. Obviously, this isn’t overly surprising news.

Alabama remains undefeated at 11-0 after beating the Florida Gators 52-46 in the SEC Championship Game. It was an epic battle that went down to the very end, but ultimately the Crimson Tide prevailed.

There was a lot of movement after championship weekend in the poll. You can see some of those changes below. Here is a look at the full Amway Coaches Poll after the conclusion of Week 16.

Rank Team RCD PTS 1ST PREV CHG Hi/Lo
1 Alabama 11-0 1525 61 1 1/3
2 Clemson 10-1 1456 0 3 1 1/4
3 Ohio State 6-0 1379 0 4 1 2/10
4 Notre Dame 10-1 1317 0 2 -2 2/10
5 Texas A&M 8-1 1297 0 5 5/20
6 Cincinnati 9-0 1204 0 6 6/22
7 Oklahoma 8-2 1104 0 10 3 3/NR
8 Indiana 6-1 1056 0 7 -1 7/NR
9 Georgia 7-2 1021 0 9 3/11
10 Florida 8-3 981 0 11 1 3/11
11 Coastal Carolina 11-0 911 0 12 1 11/NR
12 Iowa State 8-3 838 0 8 -4 8/NR
13 Northwestern 6-2 724 0 14 1 13/NR
14 North Carolina 8-3 699 0 15 1 6/NR
15 Brigham Young 10-1 657 0 16 1 8/23
16 Iowa 6-2 583 0 17 1 16/NR
17 UL Lafayette 9-1 556 0 18 1 17/NR
18 Miami 8-2 471 0 19 1 7/NR
19 Southern California 5-1 388 0 13 -6 13/NR
20 San Jose State 7-0 360 0 25 5 20/NR
21 Oklahoma State 7-3 211 0 22 1 6/NR
22 NC State 8-3 208 0 23 1 22/NR
23 Liberty 9-1 206 0 21 -2 21/NR
24 Texas 6-3 198 0 24 8/NR
25 Tulsa 6-2 191 0 20 -5 19/NR

Others Receiving Votes
Oregon 115; Army 61; Auburn 27; Colorado 15; Ball State 13; Washington 11; Wisconsin 10; Southern Methodist 10; Buffalo 9; 5; Boise State 4; Utah 2; Nevada 2.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

The top four hold steady in the final Amway Coaches Poll

The top four remain the same in the final poll

[jwplayer W93oxLtY]

In the final Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, the top four teams from a week ago stayed as the top four teams.

Notre Dame fell after their ACC title game loss against Clemson, but only to No. 4.

Ohio State, after a Big Ten championship game win over Northwestern, moved up to No. 3 overall. Wisconsin was, once again, not in the top 25.

 

NEXT … Amway Coaches Poll Top 25

Coaches Poll and CFP committee agree on top four teams

The College Football Playoff selection committee chose Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame to compete for the National Championship and the most recent Amway Coaches poll tells a similar story.

The College Football Playoff selection committee chose Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame to compete for the National Championship and the most recent Amway Coaches poll tells a similar story.

Ohio State finally gets a bump in the Amway Coaches Poll

The latest Amway Coaches Poll has been released, and Ohio State finally got a slight bump and has moved up slightly.

After being stuck at No. 4 for weeks, Ohio State has finally gotten a bump in the latest release of the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports. In the newest poll, the Buckeyes have moved up one spot to No. 3, just behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson. Notre Dame dropped a couple of spots to No. 4.

The move shadows the same made by the latest College Football Playoff rankings that also had the same top four.

Rounding out the top ten behind those four teams are Texas A&M (5), Cincinnati (6), Oklahoma (7), Indiana (8), Georgia (9), and Florida (10).

Ohio State will now begin preparations for a semifinal game in the CFP, in a rematch with Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.

NEXT … Amway Coaches Poll Top 25

Auburn gains ground in latest Amway Coaches Poll

Auburn ends the regular season not ranked in the Amway Coaches Poll.

[jwplayer W93oxLtY]

Auburn ends the 2020 regular season in a place unusual for the Tigers: out of the top 25.

In the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, Auburn finished just out of the rankings with 27 votes, three places from the 25th spot.

The Tigers ended the season last Saturday with a 24-10 victory over Mississippi State. The next day, Gus Malzahn was fired as head coach after eight seasons in charge of the program and Auburn has yet to pick his permanent replacement.

Here is the complete poll:

1 Alabama 11-0 1525 61 1 1/3
2 Clemson 10-1 1456 0 3 1 1/4
3 Ohio State 6-0 1379 0 4 1 2/10
4 Notre Dame 10-1 1317 0 2 -2 2/10
5 Texas A&M 8-1 1297 0 5 5/20
6 Cincinnati 9-0 1204 0 6 6/22
7 Oklahoma 8-2 1104 0 10 3 3/NR
8 Indiana 6-1 1056 0 7 -1 7/NR
9 Georgia 7-2 1021 0 9 3/11
10 Florida 8-3 981 0 11 1 3/11
11 Coastal Carolina 11-0 911 0 12 1 11/NR
12 Iowa State 8-3 838 0 8 -4 8/NR
13 Northwestern 6-2 724 0 14 1 13/NR
14 North Carolina 8-3 699 0 15 1 6/NR
15 Brigham Young 10-1 657 0 16 1 8/23
16 Iowa 6-2 583 0 17 1 16/NR
17 UL Lafayette 9-1 556 0 18 1 17/NR
18 Miami 8-2 471 0 19 1 7/NR
19 Southern California 5-1 388 0 13 -6 13/NR
20 San Jose State 7-0 360 0 25 5 20/NR
21 Oklahoma State 7-3 211 0 22 1 6/NR
22 NC State 8-3 207 0 23 1 22/NR
23 Liberty 9-1 206 0 21 -2 21/NR
24 Texas 6-3 198 0 24 8/NR
25 Tulsa 6-2 191 0 20 -5 19/NR
Oregon 115; Army 61; Auburn 27; Colorado 16; Ball State 13; Washington 11; Wisconsin 10; Southern Methodist 10; Buffalo 9; UAB 5; Boise State 4; Utah 2; Nevada 2.

Amway Coaches Poll: Top 4 locked in for College Football Playoff

The season end top 4 in the Amway Coaches Poll might be a controversial topic this week as Notre Dame stays near the top.

[jwplayer W93oxLtY]

The conference championship games have come and gone and a new Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY is out now that the dust has settled, and this one is reflective of the College Football Playoff seeding.

The top three teams should come as no surprise: Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. All three teams won their conference championship games on Saturday and are clearly the dominant teams in the country.

The fourth team is the one that should lead to some controversy: Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish got absolutely steamrolled in the ACC Championship game against Clemson on Saturday but remain in the top 4.

[vertical-gallery id=33292]

The College Football Playoff now looks like this:

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Notre Dame

No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State

Some teams like undefeated Cincinnati and one loss Texas A&M will likely have a legitimate gripe with the selection committee because of this, but it’s a good reminder that the selection committee’s top priority is to put together the most profitable match-ups and not always the most fair ones.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]