Tide Tidbits - November 27, 2008

Florida, Alabama have hurdles to clear
Next week's Alabama-Florida showdown shapes up as one of the greatest SEC Championship Game matchups in history. Alabama (11-0) is ranked first and Florida (10-1) is fourth in the latest BCS standings. If Alabama and Florida win Saturday, next week's game would mark the first time two top-five teams have faced off in the SEC Championship Game. The Florida-Alabama showdown also would become a de facto NCAA semifinal, with the victor one win away from a national title.

Alabama’s strength lies up the middle
The linebacker corps was probably the area of greatest concern coming into the season, Tide coach Nick Saban said. “We really had one guy, Rolando McClain, who had played any kind of major role — and he was a freshman last year when he did that,” Saban said. The key to the unit’s development was the rapid development of Hightower. “For Dont’a Hightower to come in as a freshman and probably play as well at his position as anybody on our team as a newcomer was huge,” Saban said. Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom said the inside linebackers, McClain and Hightower, can disrupt offenses with their size, speed and savvy.

“They’re big, that’s the first thing,” Croom said.

Fox Sports: Alabama-Auburn a rivalry like no other
Michigan vs. Ohio State and Texas vs. Texas A&M are like Brown vs. Columbia compared to The Iron Bowl. The rivalry is so rooted in the Alabama culture that choosing an allegiance is almost a prerequisite for living in the state. Cocktail party small talk consists of: where are you from, what do you do, and, do you pull for Auburn or Alabama? Nick Saban understands, even as he does his best to tamp down the hoopla. "It's not just another game," Saban admitted.

'Bama seeking to end Iron Bowl losing streak
It's the topic Alabama players can't escape. The one they encounter when visiting home, strolling around campus or wandering into a restaurant. And it's not national championship or Southeastern Conference title or even coach Nick Saban. "Everybody, all they say is, 'You've got to beat Auburn this year,'" Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson said, as if he didn't already know that. "If you're an Alabama fan, you have to beat Auburn. If you're an Auburn fan, they talk about the streak. To me, it's fun. We've got a chance to go out and do something that not anybody has done here in a long time and finish out the season the way we started it."

Alabama senior class considers legacy
They represent the smallest class of scholarship senior players of any football team in a major conference. But they represent much more. With a final home game on tap Saturday against Auburn, Alabama coach Nick Saban wants his nine seniors to know they will be missed. "Regardless of what happens in the future, this senior class is going to be, in my mind, the group that sort of turned it around," Saban said, "because they bought in. They believed in it. They changed their ways. They affected other people to do that as well."

Roll Tide!