Nick Saban Alabama Nick Saban spoke on Alabama’s QB issues on the SEC coaches call this week. Credit: USA TODAY Images

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.”

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.

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.

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About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.