This is a review column.
Watching Nick Saban become a star in the NFL Draft not as a head coach, but as an ESPN GameDay analyst, and watching social media videos comparing the golf swings of Saban, Karen DeBoer, and Hugh Freeze. Somewhere along the way, I was shocked.
The state's college football offseason, which began with a bang when Saban retired and Alabama hired DeBoer to replace him, has become little more than a whimper, with less energy and intensity.
Transfer portal back and forth has been pretty uneventful since the early post-Saban departures of big names like gravedigger receiver Isaiah Bonds to Texas and precocious safety Caleb Downs to Ohio State. . There has never been a coaching rant or feud like the one between Saban and Jimbo Fisher.
Meanwhile, at a time when no games have been scheduled for months and college football dominates the conversation, the number of people chasing bouncing balls is increasing, with plenty of fascinating storylines. There is.
Auburn and Alabama's spring games have been overshadowed in importance and discussion since Alabama basketball reached the Final Four for the first time. More than a month later, college basketball is still an even hotter topic, with both Alabama and Auburn projected as preseason top-10 teams, likely in the state as the postseason enters its final stages. This has become a hotter topic than ever before.
at least.
Once again, the end of the Saban era was the biggest offseason story in this state and beyond since it began, 17 years ago in January 2007. However, since the aftershocks began to subside, basketball's momentum has barely slowed down. Alabama surprises the world with a trip to the Final Four, Yale shocks Auburn, UAB meets San Diego State wood chipper like Alabama 2023, Sanford wins #AllBall but against Kansas It didn't pay off.
The basketball transfer portal is booming with news of big-name stars returning and returning to management after highly successful seasons, from Joni Bloom to SEC Tournament champion Auburn. Grant Nelson to NCAA West Region champion Alabama and Jaksel Lendeborg to AAC Tournament champion UAB.
Aiden Holloway set off the kind of basketball fireworks rarely ignited in the offseason when the five-star freshman point guard from Auburn decided to take his talents to Tuscaloosa.
The round-ball coaching merry-go-round offered an opportunity almost as big as Saban's retirement when John Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas. Two of the most successful SEC coaches, Nate Oats and Bruce Pearl, were popular with fans of various demographics in the Big Blue Nation, and their jobs remained at Alabama and Auburn.
There was a lot of love for Bucky McMillan from other fan bases as well during the coaching search — looking at you, Vanderbilt — as Bucky McMillan was handed a new contract from the program's SoCon championship sweep. He will return for his fifth season at Sanford. His first visit to the Big Dance in 24 years.
The biggest story of the offseason is still developing. Will All-American point guard Mark Sears make his mark in the NBA Draft, or return to Alabama in hopes of making it to the school's first men's basketball national championship?
No one would argue that basketball is more popular than football in this so-called Football State. Nor are you a lifelong gym rat like me. But there's no question that basketball here is more popular than ever, and the difference between the two major revenue-generating sports in terms of accomplishments, support, recognition, and heated debate is huge. It continues to shrink.
And don't even get me started on school-by-school comparisons of coaching acumen and achievement. Saban is now an analyst and ambassador, so the football world doesn't want any fumes.