Nick Saban and Alabama football are in the College Football Playoff for the eighth time since 2014.
After missing the playoff in 2022, the Crimson Tide returns to the final four.
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This team for the Crimson Tide was overlooked and disrespected, but it used the naysayers as motivation to win a Southeastern Conference Championship. Coach Saban was featured Thursday on the Pat McAfee Show to break down Alabama has something to prove in the playoff. Saban is eyeing his seventh national championship at Alabama and eighth overall in his coaching tenure.
Alabama has been playing its best football since the Tennessee game.
The Tide takes on Michigan in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day from Pasadena, Calif.
“I think our team still has a lot to prove and we have the opportunity to do that..
Our team knows what the challenge is and we need to keep the right mindset..
You’ve gotta be able to play your best football when your best football is needed”
Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/hxTfVWVXtO
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 7, 2023
“I think our team still has a lot to prove,” Saban said. “There are a lot of naysayers out there that think we should not have gotten into the playoff. We have an opportunity to prove why we got in. I think they (players) know they are going to play a good team. They just played the No. 1 team in the country, and now they are going to play the No. 1 team in the country again. I think their expectation of the quality of players you are going to play against, what you have to do to prepare to play against that player as if he’s going to be the best player you have played against all year, that is the mentality we have used in the past, and I think it works in this scenario as well. They know what the challenge is. The key to the drill is to focus this passion into positive execution.”
Saban sees his team is playing its best football, but he wants to see more of it on the biggest stage.
Alabama has to match Michigan’s intensity as the Tide has been projected as the underdog.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
