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Who would win in Game of The Century IV in less than 2 years? It sounds crazy, but both Alabama and LSU are expected to field incredibly talented football teams for the 2012 football season. With Petrino out at Arkansas, you would have to think that they will not post a huge problem either. 

Some folks are looking for USC to be strong this year, but really, can you see Kiffin taking them to the title game?  I personally think it is going to be Bama and Florida State for all the marbles next year.  Jimbo Fisher has recruiting rolling and the Seminoles are going to be stacked, but I think Bama will pulverize them in the championship game to take the title back-to-back for the first time since Bear Bryant leaned on the goal posts. 

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Last season, there was a marked improvement in the defensive line’s ability to sustain and get a push up-front. (Check out the national championship game for LSU drives going past the 50 yard line. I rest my case! ?)

One of the key reasons is how Chris Rumph trains defensive line players on technique. You can see how Rumph takes the raw talent and teaches them how to attack the line of scrimmage the right way in the video below. You will see the players get a little vertical and he jumps in and shows them how to hit the sled with more horizontal power. Also, notice the way the players pump their feet.

In the video, you can see the DL Coach Chris Rumph working with Jesse Williams (54), Damion Square (92), Quinton Dial (90), Brandon Ivory (62), and others in Wednesdays’s workouts.

See it video below!

Scott Cochran, head trainer for Alabama, is pushing the injured players to keep peddling on the stationary bikes during practice.

 

Girls, are you looking to get a new bikini for summer? Check out this awesome looking bikini top that supports the Tide while you soak in the sun's rays this summer!

After a week off for spring break, the Alabama football team is back on campus for spring practice.  One bad news to report however is an injury due to a pick-up basketball game.  Alabama's Coach Nick Saban deadpanned, “We try to get these guys not to play basketball, but they all think they can play in the NBA." 

Seeing that Blake Sims is a third-year backup tailback with a chance to move up in the lineup following Tent Richardson's early exit, the likelihood of ever playing a huge role in Alabama's offense is pretty slim.  With Eddie Lacey & 5-star back-ups Dee Hart & T.J. Yeldon, the push for playing time would be tough for Sims.  However, his dual threat ability to throw the football does give him the ability to play a unique role in trick plays.  Missing spring practice will not help his chances at all to move up in the lineup as he finishes out his career at Alabama.

Otherwise, Coach Saban was fairly pleased with how the second session of spring practice 2012 turned out.  

Coach Saban said, “I think the big question for everybody is, how much will you invest in yourself and in the team so that we can get better. So that you can get better individually, and so that we can get better. It's special to be all you can be. You can't really take anything for granted. You've got to learn to be accountable and responsible to give effort, play with toughness, be accountable to do your job and execute on a consistent basis.

“Right now, we've got too many young guys that are talented guys that need to learn how to do that with more consistency. The mental toughness to be able to focus and keep an intensity level, regardless of circumstances or what happens.

“It will be interesting to see as we continue to add things, how much paralysis by analysis we really get, especially with the younger guys.  We're going to keep on, keeping on."

Alabama will be hosting a big high school coaching clinic for over 1000 Alabama high school football coaches this week. In the lineup of guest speakers will include Bill Parcells, Lou Holtz, Mickey Andrews, Bobby Humphrey, and the head coaches of all the 6 Alabama state championship teams. 

Coach Saban said it is Alabama's philosophy to give back to the profession in the form of a quality clinic.  The high school coaches will observe Alabama's football practices on Friday and Saturday practices.  Coach Saban said, "“We don't do anything different. We give the coaches the opportunity to see what we do in practice, how we coach, an opportunity to look at the drills we do, but we really don't do anything different."

One more interesting note is that Penn State's new coaching staff came to Alabama on Monday to observe the Tide's practices. 

Alabama has some holes to plug on both defense and offense as spring practice progresses.  There are always players who make a splash during this time of year and break into the starting line-up.  We will keep you posted on all the latest news out of Alabama's 2012 spring football practices.

Roll Tide!  
 

Not the way that Alabama had hoped to end the season, in a 60-51 loss to Ole Miss.   We knew going in that it would be a tough game going into Oxford, and it was one that that Ole Miss punched Bama in the face and took the game to the boards.  Ole Miss's front line was too much as Alabama started out the game very cold with a paltry 22% shooting percentage in the first half.  The result was a 28-17 deficit that Bama could not overcome.  Now, Bama will await its seeding in the SEC tournament.  Hopefully, Tennessee will will lose to Vandy today to keep Bama in the 4th seed. 

I hated to see this loss, but I think Bama is still a sure thing  in the NCAA tournament.  Ole Miss deserves the credit for thier solid performance today.  They could make a run in the SEC tournament playing like this, but I am guessing it will be a Kentucky won SEC tournament once again.

Roll Tide!

Alabama Takes on Ole Miss Today in Men's Basketball

Alabama plays Ole Miss today in men's basketball and the game is set for 3 PM Central standard Time. The game will be to the televised on the SEC network and streamed via the internet on ESPN3.

A few weeks ago, Alabama's season looked much bleaker than it does now.

Things are looking good for Bama getting into the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and with a fairly decent seed.

Riding high on a 5-game winning streak, Alabama's freshmen have started to contribute more and you see a better overall team than earlier in the season (even when ranked #12).

The secret sauce? Unselfishness.

Coach Anthony Grant knew what he was doing when he took out the "entitled" players in JaMychal Green & Tony Mitchell. Green is back after sitting and seems to thrive now as a team player.  Nothing like a bit of bench time to make for a new attitude.  Tony Mitchell, on the other hand, is out for the season.  We will see if he returns next year.

The end result of all this discipline by Anthony Grant has been a blossoming of other players on the team.  Especially the freshmen in Lacey, Cooper, & Randolph.  Today, Alabama stands alone as a much better team.

Today's road trip to Oxford, Mississippi won't be an easy task.  Ole Miss, also, has their own tournament aspirations for NCAA tournament.  Long shot, but they are hoping to make a run with a win over Bama and catch a few wins in the SEC.    Sitting right now at a 17-12 record, Ole Miss is a legitimate bubble team for the NCAAs, but its a long shot at best.  It looks more reasonable for them to go to the NIT, even if they can beat the Tide

Last month, Bama's game with Ole Miss was nothing but a heart breaker for the Ole Miss Miss Rebels, as Bama beat them in double overtime.  Look for much of the same thing in today's matchup.

Win today and Alabama gets a bye in the opening round of the SEC tournament with a coveted fourth seed. 

A win today by the Tide will put another win over a top 60 RPI team on their resume before the end of the regular season.  This is a big game to nail down a higher bid in the NCAAs.

Ole Miss is going to be a challenge.  There is no doubt. 

Ole Miss relies heavily on inside power game led by 6'10" senior Terrance Henry's 12.4 pts/game and 6'7" junior Murphy Holloway. Both players pose a big problem on the backboard. Another player on this tremendously physical front-line, is 6'9" junior Reginald Buckner, who happens to be one of the SEC's top shot blockers. Bama has to neutralize this frontcourt with its quickness and defense. It will also be important to block out and play good basketball to succeed in Oxford today.

It's never a easy win going on the road into the "Tad pad", or Tad Smith Coliseum, on the campus of the University of Mississippi.  In the last decade, Alabama has only one there 3 times.   It's about time that Bama makes it four.

ROLL TIDE!

As a starting linebacker for the Crimson Tide, Thomas set a college football record with 27 sacks in one season (he had 52 for his career) and to this day he still owns that record. He was a Butkus Award winner and he was unamious All-American back in 1988.

My question is why has it taken so long? Thomas was one of the greatest linebackers in history and he just NOW being recognized for his accomplishments?!?

Well, hopefully this will all be corrected soon with his induction.

Some of you may have forgotten or too young to remember how good Derrick Thomas was especially in 1988, here are just a few highlights from the Hurricane Game Against Texas A & M.

DT

The Tide would hold the Tigers scoreless for most of the first half making an 9-0 run to take the lead going into the half before the Tigers had a run of their own to cut the lead to two.

Auburn took the lead several times in the second half, but it was the play of senior JaMychal Green that made all the difference in this game. He along with Trevor Lacey (10 points) helped the Tide overcome a 30 percent shooting night.

"For this to be my last game at Coleman Coliseum that's the way I'd like to go out," said Green

Green ended up with 15 points on senior night and with only seconds to go in the game, made a clutch shot to shut the door on an Auburn comeback.

"Everybody stayed together as a team," Green said. "Shots we normally hit weren't falling tonight. We had to just go inside and get fouled, and that's what we did, and we converted on the free-throw line."

A frustrated Frankie Sullivan sums up the Tigers loss by saying this: "We just folded at the end. "We've been doing that all season."

After the game, Alabama coach Anthony Grant held up five fingers to crowd to show this was the Tide's fith victory in a row over the Tigers.

The Tide's last regular season game will be Saturday at 3 o'clock versus Ole Miss. A victory for the Tide will sew up fourth place in the SEC, and a bye in the SEC Tournament.