ESPN\u00a0College GameDay\u00a0co-host Nick Saban has made plenty of headlines over his long career, but his latest comment may have caught fans off guard. The former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach has spent this fall offering insight and analysis each Saturday on ESPN\u2019s flagship college football show, where his presence has added credibility and humor in equal measure.<\/p>\n
During a recent broadcast, Saban was asked about his favorite teams, and his response immediately drew laughter from the\u00a0GameDay\u00a0crew and fans alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, my favorite team is Alabama,\u201d Saban said. \u201cMy backup team is Georgia because I had a house there.\u201d His quick, deadpan delivery earned applause from the live audience, especially from Georgia supporters enjoying the playful endorsement from one of college football\u2019s most successful coaches.<\/p>\n
While Saban\u2019s loyalty to Alabama remains unquestioned, the remark highlighted his growing comfort in his analyst role. Once defined by his sideline intensity, Saban has embraced the lighter side of the sport, giving fans an entertaining look at the person behind the trophies.<\/p>\n
Saban\u2019s \u201cbackup team\u201d has its attention on business this weekend. The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday at noon ET on ESPN. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has turned the program into a model of consistency, producing seven 10-win seasons in eight years, along with two national championships and three Southeastern Conference titles.<\/p>\n
Smart acknowledged the improvement Mississippi State has shown under head coach Jeff Lebby. \u201cNo. 1, it shows hard work pays off,\u201d Smart said. \u201cThey\u2019ve continued to work hard. They\u2019ve stayed true to themselves. They\u2019ve been in every game. They\u2019ve had several games they should\u2019ve won, could\u2019ve won, but didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are 7-1 overall and 5-1 in SEC play this season. \/ Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Mississippi State\u2019s progress has been visible. After going 2-10 last season, the Bulldogs are one win from bowl eligibility thanks to steady quarterback play from Blake Shapen and breakout performances by receivers Anthony Evans III and Brenen Thompson.<\/p>\n
Georgia enters as the heavy favorite, but Smart has challenged his team to finish stronger. He said the Bulldogs must \u201cdominate\u201d games again to reach their championship standard. Some analysts, like David Pollack, believe Mississippi State could be a trap game for Georgia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Georgia Bulldogs will face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday at noon ET on ESPN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN\u00a0College GameDay\u00a0co-host Nick Saban has made plenty of headlines over his long career, but his latest comment may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-279666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}