Nick Saban has surprising SEC Championship Game picks

If you thought former Alabama head coach Nick Saban would be in the bag for the Crimson Tide this season, you’d be wrong.

When Saban made his picks for the SEC Championship Game this week, he did not pick his longtime school. He did, however, pick two of his former assistants to meet for the title.

Saban thinks the Georgia Bulldogs will meet the Texas Longhorns in the SEC Championship Game.

Although he thinks the Crimson Tide will have a good season, he’s worried about the Tide’s secondary, which lost several key players from that side of the ball from last year’s SEC Championship team.

“I believe in our Alabama team too. I believe in Jalen Milroe,” said Saban. “But until the issues in the secondary get resolved, it’s hard to kind of jump on that bandwagon.”

Saban on picking Georgia and Texas to meet in the SEC Championship Game and not Alabama:

“I believe in our Alabama team too. I believe in Jalen Milroe. But until the issues in the secondary get resolved, it’s hard to kind of jump on that bandwagon.”

— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) July 15, 2024

Both Georgia and Texas have several star players returning, including two of the top quarterbacks in the country in Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers. So it’s understandable why Saban made the pick.

Some Alabama fans think Saban did this on purpose to motivate his former team.

Saban giving rat poison I love it

— Im a writer (@JayJDONDA) July 15, 2024

He’s giving them motivation he knows what he’s doing

— The Real Dill (@DillonMoore28) July 15, 2024

Many have observed in the past that Saban has gone on television and has said things to motivate his team indirectly. We’ll see if this message, intended or not, gets picked up by Bama players.

{Sidelines-Bama}