Jan 8, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban reacts during the third quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2018 CFP national championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Photo Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
It’s no surprise that Alabama was selected to win the SEC at the end of this week’s SEC Media Days, but the defending national champion does have questions heading into 2018.
As for the vote of the media, the Crimson Tide received 193 votes to be the winner of the league title game, to be held Dec. 1 in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia, predicted to be the SEC East champ, was second with 69 votes.
Alabama coach Nick Saban, going for what would be a record seventh national championship, has to replace his entire secondary, deal with a thin linebacking corps and navigate a quarterback competition between two-year starter Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, who came off the bench in the second half to lead Alabama to an overtime win in the 2017 national title game against Georgia.
It’s that battle between Hurts, a junior, and Tagovailoa, a sophomore, that likely will dominate Alabama’s camp storylines.
“I’m not making any predetermined decisions about that,” Saban said of the competition. “So, they need to continue to compete, like every other person at every other position on our team is competing.
“And I love both guys. They’re both really good competitors. They are really good people. They are good leaders. They both make great contribution to our team. They are very well liked. So somebody’s got to win the team.”
The linebacker unit, which dealt with multiple serious injuries last season, could be a strength, led by inside linebackers Mack Wilson and Dylan Moses, paired with outside linebackers Christian Miller and Anfernee Jennings, coming off a torn ACL suffered in the 2017 postseason.
But depth is an issue, with projected backups/rotational players Terrell Lewis and Keith Holcombe no longer available. Lewis, a junior, suffered a torn ACL in the offseason; Holcombe, a senior, left the team to pursue baseball.
“He’s been a great contributor in the program, not only on the field but a great human being, outstanding student, been a really, really good leader for us, and I would love to have him come back and be a part of our team,” Saban said of Holcombe.
“But I understand that he wanted to play baseball. He’s always wanted to play baseball.”
Alabama is also replacing its entire starting secondary (including the nickel back) and will be looking for leadership after the departure of two-time All-American Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“We have a lot of young players who have the opportunity to step up,” Saban said.
“Some of them very talented. But how well we do that, how the older players on the team assume their new role of leadership, all of these things will determine how fast we get to where we need to be and where we can be as a team.”
Here is the voting from the SEC media poll:
EAST DIVISION
1. Georgia (271 first-place votes, 1,977 points); 2. South Carolina (8, 1,535); 3. Florida (4, 1,441); 4. Missouri (1,057); 5. Kentucky (1,874); 6. Tennessee (1,704); 7. Vanderbilt (392).
WEST DIVISION
1. Alabama (263, 1,971); 2. Auburn (19, 1,664); 3. Mississippi State (2, 1,239); 4. Texas A&M (1,091); 5. LSU (1,025); 6. Mississippi (578); 7. Arkansas (412).
–There is at least some preseason debate in the loaded Big Ten East, but not so in the West.
Wisconsin received all 28 votes in a poll of Big Ten media conducted by Cleveland.com in advance of the league’s media days, which begin Monday in Chicago.
Ohio State was the clear pick in the East, picking up 23.5 first-place votes, while Michigan State had two, Michigan 1.5 and Penn State one in a crowded pack chasing the Buckeyes.
Voters were nearly evenly split as to the overall league champ.
Ohio State received 14 votes, one more than Wisconsin. One voter chose Michigan State.
Wisconsin finished 13-1 last season, missing out on a College Football Playoff berth when it lost to the Buckeyes in the Big Ten title game.
The Badgers return 14 starters, including sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor (expected to be a Heisman candidate) and All-American senior linebacker T.J. Edwards.
The Buckeyes, 12-2 in 2017, are especially talented on the defensive line, led by junior end Nick Bosa, who is the national preseason Defensive Player of the Year in Lindy’s College Football Annuals.
Ohio State is loaded on offense, too, with running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber, all-purpose receiver Parris Campbell and talented Dwayne Haskins expected to step in at quarterback for departed J.T. Barrett.
Here is the voting in the Big Ten media poll:
BIG TEN EAST
1. Ohio State, 191.5 points (23.5 first-place votes); 2. Michigan State, 142 points (2); 3. Penn State, 141.5 points (1); 4. Michigan, 140.5 points (1.5); 5. Maryland, 75.5 points; 6. Indiana, 60 points;
7. Rutgers, 33 points
BIG TEN WEST
1. Wisconsin, 196 points (28 first-place votes); 2. Iowa, 155 points
3. Northwestern, 138 points; 4. Nebraska, 104 points; 5. Purdue, 98.5 points; 6. Minnesota, 64.5 points; 7. Illinois, 28 points.
–U.S. District Judge William Martinez dismissed a lawsuit filed against Colorado head football coach Mike MacIntyre, athletic director Rick George and the university’s chancellor and president by a woman who has accused former assistant football coach Joe Tumpkin of domestic violence.
Martinez granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss Pamela Fine’s lawsuit, contending that they did not properly respond when she informed them of her allegations against Tumpkin.
In September, Fine filed a separate lawsuit against Tumpkin for assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, which was not affected by Martinez’s ruling.
Martinez wrote in his decision that MacIntyre, George, university chancellor Phil DiStefano and university president Bruce Benson had no legal obligation to protect Fine because she has no direct affiliation with the school.
The judge ruled that the Colorado officials “provided neither access nor cover for Tumpkin’s alleged conduct.”
“Tumpkin’s actions took place outside the scope of his position with the university, and seemingly without his employer’s knowledge,” Martinez wrote. “The tortious contact which (Fine) alleges Tumpkin inflicted upon her in no way depended on his position as a coach with the university in order to be carried out. Absent a special relationship between them and (Fine), therefore, (the defendants) are not liable for a failure to act in response to (Fine’s) complaints.”
In June 2017, DiStefano was suspended by the university for 10 days without pay, and MacIntyre and George were reprimanded by the school’s board of regents following an external review of how they handled Fine’s allegations against Tumpkin.
As part of the reprimand, MacIntyre and George both donated $100,000 to organizations that address domestic violence.
Martinez in his ruling wrote, “The law does not always require that people with knowledge of bad acts take action.”
The judge did express concern about “the apparent reluctance of the university and its senior athletic staff to take substantial steps to address (Fine’s) allegations until they were publicly reported.”
–Auburn wide receiver Will Hastings, who underwent knee surgery this spring, might be ready to play by midseason, coach Gus Malzahn said at SEC media days.
The Tigers also will be without wide receiver Eli Stove, who is recovering from an ACL injury.
“That’s two tough blows,” Malzahn said. “We need other receivers to step up in their absence until we get them back.
“(Hastings is) off to a very good start. His rehab is going excellent. We’re hoping we get him back by the middle of the season.”
Hastings caught 26 passes for 525 yards and four touchdowns as a junior last season, while Stove caught 29 passes for 265 yards last season. He also rushed for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
Auburn quarterback Jarret Stidham passed for 3,158 yards and 18 touchdowns with only six interceptions last season after transferring from Baylor.
The Tigers begin the season against Washington on Sept. 1 in Atlanta.
Auburn also has trips to Mississippi State, Georgia and Alabama, and Malzahn claims the Tigers have “the toughest schedule in all of college football.”
