Happy Friday, everyone. The Miami Hurricanes pulled out a close one last night to advance to the national title game. Tonight Oregon will face off against Indiana in the other semifinal game. Indiana feels almost inevitable, but we will see.
The Alabama women’s basketball team posted a huge win yesterday, and at 16-1 looks poised to rise in the rankings.
The Alabama women’s basketball team collected its highest win over a ranked opponent since 1997 after downing No. 6/7 Kentucky, 64-51, Thursday. The Crimson
Tide improved to 16-1 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play following its victory inside Coleman Coliseum.
Kentucky (15-2, 2-1 SEC) held a one-point advantage over Alabama (16-1, 2-1 SEC) at the end of the first quarter, which included five lead changes, before the Tide used an 8-0 run early in the second stanza to take over the lead for the remaining 27:46 minutes of the game.
Jessica Timmons scored her fifth 20-point game, pacing UA with 24 points and shooting 8-for-16 (50 percent) from the field and 6-for-7 (86 percent) from the free throw line, while Diana Collins followed suit with 16 points. Defensively, Karly Weathers (8) and Naomi Jones (8) combined for 16 of the team’s 40 total rebounds with Weathers stealing seven balls and Jones blocking three shots.
Kristy Curry has that program in better shape than it’s been in decades.
Alabama fans are starting to get anxious about the offensive line, particularly after portal target Jacarrius Peak signed before leaving his South Carolina visit. As Michael Casagrande notes, there are other needs like wide receiver, but the trenches are going to be the key to the 2026 season.
There are only so many dollars in revenue sharing, NIL, etc. to go around. General managers in college have to operate somewhat like how general managers do building NFL rosters. If you pay one guy a large sum, that limits what you can pay others around him. It’s a balancing act of deciding to spend big at one position or one player while trying to find some players to fill other spots at friendlier prices.
Alabama still needs to bolster its receiver and offensive line groups, but offensive line help remains paramount.
Of the Crimson Tide’s seven players who received starting snaps on the offensive line in 2025, only one will return. That’s Michael Carroll. Otherwise, the Crimson Tide will have four other completely new starters. In total, eight scholarship offensive linemen won’t be back for another season.
After missing on Peak, the Tide may well turn their attention to the latest portal entry from Michigan.
According to a report from CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, former Alabama commit Ty Haywood has officially entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Haywood spent his freshman year at Michigan, as the promising offensive lineman appeared in just three games for the Wolverines in 2025.
The former coveted prospect was originally committed to Alabama from July 2024 to Jan. 2025 prior to ending up at Michigan, and the Tide could potentially make a run at Haywood once again in the near future. A former four-star recruit, the freshman was considered to be one of the top offensive lineman from the 2025 class, and his presence would add an instant boost to the Crimson Tide‘s offensive line in 2026 and beyond.
Haywood infamously flipped to Michigan a year ago without even taking a visit to Ann Arbor. He took a bag, and has now decided to go into the transfer portal. Should he come in, he will likely compete with Jackson Lloyd for one of the tackle spots. Both guys have potential but will be green, and that can be a tough situation on the lines in this era.
Regardless of whether Haywood comes, I’d expect to see some upperclassmen brought in from lower levels who are looking to prove themselves at the highest level. Let them compete with the young blue chips and things will shake out as they may.
In other words, it’s about production competing with potential.
Once a 5-star recruit turned Alabama All-American safety and first-round NFL draft pick, Clinton-Dix was hired by Saban in 2022 as the Crimson Tide’s director of player development.
His blunt assessment of players mentioned by name sounds like something you’d hear behind closed doors from a Saban staffer.
Not everyone will appreciate the public nature of his criticisms, but transparency within the often-tight-lipped process is always welcomed.
Like it or not, this is a business.
And HaHa Clinton-Dix isn’t crying over those taking their services elsewhere.
Alabama has offered a FCS WR and he will reportedly be visiting this weekend.
Kid looks pretty explosive.
Last, Pete Golding had a funny Saban story yesterday.
“We’ve got two golf courses in Tuscaloosa, and, on Fridays in the offseason, (Saban) would sneak out after lunch. And it was not told that you had the afternoon off yourself.
“So, (Sarkisian) and I, and a couple other coaches, we were on hole 11, and we look down the right and are like ‘Holy s–t. It’s Saban.’
“(Saban) is over there, and there’s a couple branches and things stuck in the way, so we think, ‘He can’t see us.’ And then (Sarkisian) hits a hole in one. I s–t you not. He’d never hit a hole in one in his life, but Saban is 120 yards away and we’re supposed to be at work, so we are just mute.“We’re jumping up, but no one was high fiving, no one was yelling. You can’t make this up.
“That just goes to show the fear that coach Saban will put into grown people.”
Saban responded.
“I did see them on the tee,” Saban said. “I did not see the hole in one. These guys did not learn the process very well.
It’s a shame that Pete didn’t get to coach for a national title. An Indiana vs Ole Miss final would be a sure sign of the apocalypse.
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
