The Biggest Gifts of 2008

With Christmas Eve upon us, everyone should be in a jolly good mood.

Gifts are under the tree, ready to be unwrapped either tonight or tomorrow, and the recipients can only wait to see what is in store for them.

Even though this is the season of giving, some of the biggest gifts of the year have already been revealed in the world of sports.

To refresh your memory, here are some of the biggest gifts given out in 2008:

Memphis handing Kansas the NCAA Title

In what was a close game for most of the second half, the Tigers took a seven point lead after a 10-2 run. With 2:12 remaining in the game, Memphis was up nine and has the Jayhawks on the brink.

Kansas would fight back with a run of their own after two Mario Chalmers' free throws cut the lead to four with 1:15 remaining in the game.

Then, the bottom fell out for Memphis. Chris Douglas-Roberts missed the front end of a bonus opportunity and then two more to bookend a Darrell Arthur jumper.

Derrick Rose then split a trip to the line with ten seconds left to give the Tigers a three point lead.

That disappeared once Mario Chalmers hit an incredible three to tie the game and send it to overtime, where Kansas would win running away.

Memphis missed four of their final five free throws and shot 63% from the line for the game while Kansas missed one from the charity stripe all day.

Lakers giving Game 4 to the Celtics at home

In one of the most anticipated Finals match-ups of the decade, the Lakers and Celtics were going to renew their storied rivalry.

After Boston had taken the first two at home, LA kept home court in Game 3.

Game 4 would start out in the Lakers favor as Los Angeles jumped out to 24-point lead and held an 18-point advantage at halftime.

The Celtics then came alive in the second half, finishing the third quarter on a 21-3 run while LA would garner one point over a seven minute span between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Boston would then finish the game on a 15-8 run to outscore the Lakers 57-33 in the second half. With the win, Boston took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series on their way to finishing off the Lakers in six for the franchise's 17th NBA Title.

New York Mets sending the Phillies to the playoffs for the second straight season

In 2007, the New York Mets had an epic collapse in September as the Philadelphia Phillies wound up taking the National League East on the last day of the season.

As September approached in 2008, the Mets were once again on top of the East with a month to go, this time with a two game lead.

By September 10th, the Mets had extended their lead to 3.5 games with only sixteen games remaining in the season.

Then, deja vu happened. The Phillies went on a tear, winning seven straight and then 13 of their final 16 games. The Mets went 7-10 over the same span, failing to win any of their final five series of the year.

Philadelphia would take the division lead for good on September 20th and clinched the division on the 27th. The Mets, for the second straight season, would be spending October at home after having a division lead late in the season.

The Phillies would ride their success all the way to the World Series title in 2008, the second in the Phillies history and first since 1980. Philadelphia finished the season and playoffs with 24-6 record.

Tom Brady and Tiger giving everyone else a chance

It has been years since two ACLs had a larger impact on the world of sports. No two shadows loom larger than Tiger Woods and Tom Brady's in their respective sports.

Tiger's injury left the golf world wide open, and no one took more advantage of his absence than Padraig Harrington.

After Tiger left for knee surgery, Harrington asserted himself to the top the sport, winning the British Open and PGA Championship to finish out the 2008 season. His stellar finish got him selected PGA Golfer of the Year, the first European player to win the award. The win ended Tiger's three year reign of the award.

Tom Brady wasted no time in ruining his season and the season of fantasy owners everywhere by going down with a knee injury in the first quarter of the season.

Now, Matt Cassell has stepped in for Brady and has led the Patriots all season. His numbers aren't Brady-like, but he still has New England with a chance to win the AFC East. Cassell is completing 63% of his passes for 3,615 yards and 21 touchdowns on the year. For a guy who hadn't started a game since high school, he hasn't done too shabby and will make a new team happy in 2009.

Denver giving the AFC West to San Diego

This hasn't happened yet, but it is definitely not out of the equation.

Denver has not been on fire this season, but their division has been horrible for most of the season. The Broncos have had chances in the past two seasons to clinch a playoff spot, but have lost back to back games to the Panthers and Bills.

San Diego, however, is a whole other story. The Chargers started the season with two hard losses in the final minute to the Panthers and Broncos. Just three weeks ago, they were 4-8 and looking at a long off season.

The past three weeks, San Diego has won divisional games against Oakland and Kansas City as well as a huge win in Tampa Bay last week. They are now 7-8 and are facing a chance at the playoffs with a home win over Denver.

Picks, Previews, and Prognostications: Bowl Edition

In the morning, the much awaited bowl season will officially begin.

Thirty-four bowls for sixty eight teams that will last for nineteen days to give all college football fans joy and happiness for one last time until, well, National Signing Day.

So, in true fashion, here comes a prediction for every single bowl, in order, with some previews tossed in here and there.

EagleBank Bowl, Washington, D.C.-Wake Forest 27, Navy 21

New Mexio Bowl, Albuquerque, NM-Fresno State 31, Colorado State 17

magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, St. Petersburg, FL-South Florida 35, Memphis 10
With the Bulls playing just across town, against a team from C-USA no less, do you really believe the Tigers stand a chance? Basketball, this is a different story, but South Florida will run Memphis into the ground.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, Las Vegas, NV-BYU 24, Arizona 21

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, New Orleans, LA-Troy 34, Southern Miss 28
Troy was very close to taking down LSU just a month ago. Don't expect the Trojans to have the same type of collapse against the Golden Eagles.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, San Diego, CA-TCU 28, Boise State 27
In what may be the most anticipated game outside of the BCS Title game, TCU and Boise State, two Top 12 teams, are playing before Christmas. That is a shame in itself, but this game will be down to the wire and well worth watching.

Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, Honolulu, HI-Hawaii 24, Notre Dame 13
Notre Dame has not won a bowl game in the BCS era. Hawaii is playing at home while the Domers are on vacation. Don't be surprised if the Irish, who only have one win over a winning team this season, extend their bowl streak to ten straight losses in the atmosphere of Aloha Stadium.

Motor City Bowl, Detroit, MI-Central Michigan 31, Florida Atlantic 17

Meineke Car Care Bowl, Charlotte, NC-North Carolina 28, West Virginia 24

Champs Sports Bowl, Orlando, FL-Florida State 35, Wisconsin 14

Emerald Bowl, San Francisco, CA-Cal 38, Miami 27
Miami managed to win some games this season without Robert Marve at QB. He will once again be missing for the bowl game, but Cal is a bit more of a different beast than those "preseason" teams.

Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA-Louisiana Tech 24, Northern Illinois 13

Papajohns.com Bowl, Birmingham, AL-Rutgers 31, North Carolina State 28
If you want to see a game of two streaking teams, this is definitely one to watch. Both teams had quarterbacks emerge throughout the season, and now Rutger's Mike Teel and NC State's Russell Wilson will lead their teams into improbable bowl games after both teams started horrible.

Valero Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, TX-Missouri 24, Northwestern 21

Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, Boise, ID-Maryland 21, Nevada 14

Texas Bowl, Houston, TX-Western Michigan 27, Rice 24

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, San Diego, CA-Oregon 48, Oklahoma State 44
If you want to see offense, this is your game. Oregon ran all over Oregon State in their final game of the season while Oklahoma State ran rampant across the Big XII this season. This game has the chance for both teams to combine for 100 points, but some defense should prevail at some point in this game. Punt prediction: Two total.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, TX-Air Force 24, Houston 20

Brut Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX-Oregon State 41, Pittsburgh 28

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, Nashville, TN-Boston College 24, Vanderbilt 17

Insight Bowl, Tempe, AZ-Kansas 28, Minnesota 20

Chick-fil-a Bowl, Atlanta, GA-Georgia Tech 31, LSU 28
Georgia Tech rose from the abyss this season. LSU fell into it. Look for Paul Johnson to cap his amazing first season by running all over LSU with the triple option.

Outback Bowl, Tampa, FL-South Carolina 17, Iowa 14

Capital One Bowl, Orlando, FL-Georgia 31, Michigan State 21
Knowshon Moreno and Javon Ringer will be the headlines for this game, but it will be interesting to see if Georgia can pull out a win in what might be their best chance for a 10-win season in the next three.

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL-Clemson 20, Nebraska 17

Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, Pasadena, CA-USC 17, Penn State 10
USC has had the "best defense in the country" all season, but when you play Arizona St., Washington and WAZU, you should. That defense will be put to the test when the Spread HD hits the west coast.

FedEx Orange Bowl, Miami, FL-Cincinnati 23, Virginia Tech 20
Virginia Tech may have won the ACC, but what kind of feat is that exactly? About as impressive as winning the Big East. This should be a close game, but who would really want to watch it?

AT&T Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX-Texas Tech 31, Ole Miss 20
Ole Miss may be Alabama's biggest threat in the SEC West next season, but the Rebels will have fits trying to cover Michael Crabtree and the rest of the Red Raider receiving core.

Autozone Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN-Kentucky 24, East Carolina 20

Allstate Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, LA-Alabama 34, Utah 10
The Crimson Tide will be looking to finish off a phenomenal season against the undefeated Utes. Too bad the win won't look too great against a Utah team that beat two top twenty teams this season.

International Bowl, Toronto, Canada-Buffalo 30, UConn 27

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, AZ-Texas 24, Ohio State 10
Ohio State is once again in a BCS bowl. Ohio State will once again get run out of the building by a far superior team. At least the Big XII will finally get their turn with the Buckeyes.

GMAC Bowl, Mobile, AL-Tulsa 17, Ball State 13

FedEx BCS National Championship Game, Miami, FL-Oklahoma 31, Florida 30
Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford meet again, but this time on the field. Florida may have a great defense, and Oklahoma will be without Demarco Murray, but that won't be enough to stop the Sooners. Kudos to Florida to at least keeping them under sixty, at least.

Some News and Notes of Interest...

So, since the Ole Miss-Louisville game has become comical, on top of the fact that the blog has sat idle for a few days, I decided to pick things up a big with some news floating around the sports world that has sparked some interest.

• For starters, if you have not heard yet, the city of Birmingham won out the rights to host the Davis Cup first round match between the US and Switzerland. The Magic City beat out Las Vegas, San Antonio and Greenville, South Carolina for the rights to the three day event from March 6-8. The matches will be played at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena. The rosters for the event will not be set until ten days prior, but odds are that American Andy Roddick and Swiss phenom Roger Federer will end up facing off on either Friday or Sunday.
• March will also be the month for the second World Baseball Classic, and the rosters for the respective countries are starting to take shape. Davey Johnson, manager of the 1986 World Series Champion Mets, will once again lead Team USA, who stumbled in the inaugural WBC in the second round and only went 3-3. Japan was the first country to win the event. Among those who have already committed to play for Team USA are Yankees' SS Derek Jeter, Red Sox 2B and AL MVP Dustin Pedroia, Angels' ace John Lackey, and Braves' 3B Chipper Jones and C Brian McCann. Prominent players who will suit up for other teams included Yankees' 3B Alex Rodriguez (Dominican Republic), Twins' 1B Justin Morneau (Canada) and Yankees' catcher Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico). The WBC begins on March 3rd and runs through the championship game in Los Angeles on March 23rd.
• As has been expected for a few months now, Chick-fil-a will announce on Friday that Alabama will face 2008 ACC Champ Virginia Tech in the second annual Chick-fil-a College Kickoff in the Georgia Dome. The game is set for September 5th, 2009 and will be broadcast by ESPN or ABC. Both teams will begin their season with the game. Alabama was a part of the inaugural College Kickoff game as the Crimson Tide rolled over the Clemson Tigers 34-10 to begin their 2008 season.

Also, be sure to get out and vote for the Crimson Tide in two polls available right now. For starters, Nick Saban is up for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award. Below is a video profile of him and you can go to http://www.coachoftheyear.com/ to cast your vote by clicking on the banner below the video. Hurry up, though, as there are only four days left until voting ends.

Second, Rashad Johnson's interception against LSU has advanced in the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance of the Year competition. Each week, the list will be cut by four until a winner is determined, so be sure to vote for Rashad's play and get Alabama $100,000 towards scholarships.

That is all that has sparked my interest for now, plus the Rebels have made a game of things.

Don't forget to sign up for the ITNOT College Bowl Mania group on ESPN.com. You have until kickoff of the Eaglebank Bowl on Saturday morning to submit your picks.

Tomorrow, be on the look out for a full bowl preview and prediction post in preparation for an exciting Saturday in which four bowls will help ring in the bowl season.

Can You Out-Pick My Bowl Predictions? Take Your Chance.

Since everyone managed to make it through last weekend, we can all focus on the upcoming bowl season.

With the EagleBank Bowl on Saturday, the bowl season will officially begin, lasting all the way until January 8th and the National Championship Game.

So, instead of just making my picks for the bowls, like I did during the season, I'm extending the offer out to the loyal readers of "In the Nic of Time" t0 challenge your picks against mine for the bowl season.

Now, I don't want people sending me all sorts lists and what not, so I'm letting ESPN organize the entire thing.

All you have to do is go to ESPN.com and sign up for a ESPN.com Membership Account, totally free.

Once you have done this, go to the Fantasy tab on the main page and click on College Bowl Mania and sign up to participate.

I have created a private group titled "In the Nic of Time." Once you have found the group, use the password ITNOT to join the group and make your picks.

The group is based on confidence level in you picks, so not only will you select the winner (straight up, not against a spread), and then how confident you are in that team winning the game. Rank every bowl, 1-34.

So, go ahead and take you chances against me. The CW Sports Staff didn't do so well in November when we went head to head, so hopefully you can do a little better than them against me.

Seriously, Auburn, is THIS Your Splash?

After the "resignation" of Tommy Tuberville, the feeling of many Auburn fans was that the Tigers needed to make a "big splash" hire with their next head coach.

Names such as Turner Gill, Skip Holtz, and Will Muschamp floated around the Plains for days, but there was never any action.

One reaction from The Bunker message board on Auburnsports.com, the Tigers' Rivals' site, was quite upset yesterday morning about the lack of a hire.

"At this point in the coaching party, Auburn is the sloppy girl on the couch drunk dialing all the exes she can find in her cell phone."

Apparently she finally called the guy who wasn't quite over her yet.

On Saturday, the news broke that Gene Chizik, former Auburn defensive coordinator and Iowa State head coach, would be hired by Auburn to take over the football program.

Before we go into the reaction, let's look at the "splash factor" of Chizik compared to the other men mentioned above.

• Will Muschamp: Had he left his post at Texas to return to Auburn, this would have been a good rally for the Tigers. Muschamp's defense was one of the best in the Big XII this season and is still highly thought of in Auburn. He is a Tuberville protege and had some of the nastiest defenses in the SEC during his time. Not to mention he was 2-0 against both Alabama and Florida. Splash factor: Soaking the tanning sorority girls on the side of the pool, but attractive enough that they smile instead of yell.
• Turner Gill: The Buffalo coach took the job in New York as a man who had never heard of the university. Since his arrival, he has doubled the Bulls win total in FBS and won a conference championship. He will be guiding the Bulls to their first attended bowl game in school history and only the second invite in school history. To say he is one of the hottest coaches in college football would be an understatement. Splash factor: Big enough to make your friends jealous.
• Skip Holtz: After being the college football sweetheart of the early season at East Carolina, the Pirates were brought back down to earth. Nonetheless, Holtz's team beat Virginia Tech, the ACC Champ. The Holtz was a hot candidate for Syracuse, but reportedly pulled his name out of contention because Auburn came calling. Splash factor: As wet as you would be by standing in front of his father while he talked.
• Gene Chizik: Chizik has been at Iowa State for the past two seasons, his first head coaching job of his career. He has a Big XII and SEC Championship to his name as a defensive coordinator, but has not had that success as a head coach. After two seasons, Chizik is 5-19 as a head coach and was #3 on the coacheshotseat.com rankings before Auburn snatched him away from Iowa State. Splash factor: A faucet leak in a room of the house no one visits, so it drives up your water bill.

So what has the reaction be so far? Well, it hasn't been too good.

Alabama fans were enjoying the news all day, with the responses coming quick and painful for Auburn fans.

One facebook status read,"2007: 3-9 2008: 2-10 2009: War Damn Eagle!" Another responded to the hire with, "Gene Chizik: Cause five wins in one season are too many."

The Tigers' faithful couldn't look to their own for reassurance that things would be alright in the Loveliest Village, either.

For starters, none of the recruits know a thing about Chizik. Jamie Collins, an Athlete from Mississippi, was told of the hire and responded with, "I don't know him, I've never talked to him-I've never even heard of him."

When Collins learned of Chizik's record at Iowa State, his response wasn not inspiring. "That's not attractive," he said.

Just under an hour ago, Collins decommitted from Auburn. "I'm decommitting from Auburn," said Collins. "I'm going to open things up and see what happens." Collins makes a total of seven decommits for the Auburn recruiting class since it was announced that Tuberville would not return in 2009.

The Auburn family reaction wasn't any better. Al Del Greco was quick and to the point. "No comment."

Cole Cubelic, a former Auburn lineman, was not very impressed with the hire.

"I have a lot of respect for the guy. But you look at his track record as a head coach and you have to scratch your head and wonder what Auburn was doing and why they think it's a good move."

Then, there was this response to Jacobs and Chizik returning to Auburn. Go to about the :35 second mark.

Quite the contrast to Nick Saban's arrival in Tuscaloosa just two short years ago.

And then there was former coach Pat Dye's reaction.

Dye called Chizik "a heck of a football coach, a solid guy. There's not a finer individual, character-wise."

Paul Clark of CycloneReport.com, Iowa State's Rivals' site, who has covered Chizik for the past two years, has a different view of Auburn's new coach.

Finally, now that we know who Auburn's coach his, let's look at the Tigers 2009 Schedule.

The Tigers play Ball State, West Virginia, Furman and Southern Miss out of conference, all at home. The Auburn SEC slate has the Tigers hosting Ole Miss, Alabama, Mississippi State, and Kentucky. They hit the road to take on Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and LSU.

Ok, now lets look at it this way. Auburn just hired Gene Chizik, a 5-19 career coach, to annually play Les Miles, Bobby Petrino, Houston Nutt, Mark Richt, and Nick Saban.

But don't worry, Auburn fans, Steve Spurrier rotates on the schedule in 2010, and then Urban Meyer and the Gators in 2011.

That's right, in 2011, Auburn will face Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and LSU.

In the two years leading up to that schedule, Auburn can only hope Chizik has them at 5-19, and Jay Jacobs can only hope he has a job then as well.

How to Survive the "Worst Saturday of the Year"

Every Saturday since August 30th, college football has engulfed the lives of millions.

For the past 15 weekends, I personally have enjoyed many highs with the lows few and far between and hopefully so have you. However, with the conference championship games over with and still another week until the bowl games, there will be a sudden emptiness for the college football fan.

With the "Worst Saturday of the Year" almost upon us, how will those of us with seemingly nothing to live for survive the weekend and make it to bowl season?

Those of you who just answered that question with Christmas shopping, please exit the blog now and turn in your man card. Al Gore created the internet for us to use for Christmas shopping, so make use of it.

For the rest of you, here is a quick list of things avialable to at least get you to the next best thing to college football...NFL Sunday.

• Richmond vs. Northern Iowa, ESPN, 3 pm: The second semifinal of the FCS playoffs may not be as good as the James Madison-Montana game last night, but it is still college football and, more importantly, it's a post season done right. The winner of this game will get to face Montana in Chattanooga next Friday night for the FCS Championship.
• Memphis vs. Georgetown, CBS, 1 pm: A clash of two Top 25 teams in college basketball begins CBS' weekly coverage of the sport. The Hoyas are not as powerful as they were last season, but they are still in the ridiculously strong Big East, which is a big enough challenge for any team. Memphis is still stinging from last season's loss to Kansas in the National Title game, and even moreso from this season's only loss by the same fate against Xavier. Not to be funny, but this game will more than likely come down to free throws once again for the Tigers.
• ESPN/Football Writers Association of America All-American Team announcement, ABC, 4 pm: The organization with the longest continuous All-American selections will announce their team today at four, and the Crimson Tide is sure to have some guys selected to this team. It may not match the nation's best four that were selected to the American Coaches Football Association team, but there will surely be some Alabama Crimson in the mix.
• Texas A&M vs. Alabama, CSS, 7 pm: Before I go into this game, if you are in driving distance, COME to this game. The basketball teams any kind of support you can give, and this is the biggest game of the year. Texas A&M already has a victory over a "BCS" school with last weekend's win over Arizona, but this is the Aggies first true road test. The Crimson Tide can right the ship of what has been a rocky season so far with a win in this game, and it wouldn't hurt the Tide's NCAA Tournament resume, either.
• Heisman Trophy Presentation, ESPN, 7 pm: In what may be the closest vote in Heisman history, Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Teobw will all be in New York when the most recognizble statue in college football is presented tonight. Tebow is going for his second straight Heisman, something that has only been done once in the history of the award (Archie Griffin, 1974-75, Ohio State). Bradford and McCoy have the numbers this season, but the argument the past few days has started to slant in McCoy's favor.
• The Greatest Game Ever Played, ESPN, 8 pm: "The Greatest Game Ever Played" between the Colts (still in Baltimore) and the Giants in 1958 was more than just the NFL Championship for that season. This game features 15 future NFL Hall of Famers, including Johnny Unitas, Vince Lombardi, and Frank Gifford. The game, played in Yankee Stadium, went into overtime and was won by a Colts' one-yard plunge by Alan Ameche. The game is widely credited with the rise of the popularity of the NFL due to the fact it was the first NFL game broadcast across the nation on NBC. ESPN has remastered the game and will be playing it in color, a first for this game.

So, there you have it. Hopefully that is enough to get you through today and on to next week, when the bowls begin. If not, I hope you and your mom have fun shopping today.

"This game will come down to two or three plays..." and It Did

Sitting outside the Georgia Dome at the College Gameday set, those words were uttered by Kirk Herbstreit before he picked the Florida Gators to beat the Alabama Crimson Tide.

As it turns out, he was completely right.

After Florida 31, Alabama 20, fans from both teams are looking at two or three plays that made a difference in the game.

For Florida, those long passes down the sidelines were key for field position and getting points when they needed them the most.

Alabama overcame the fact that they let those plays happen, but too many other plays had a much bigger impact on the Alabama sidelines.

What if Javier Arenas had let that kickoff go out-of-bounds, resulting in an extra 36 yards for the Alabama offense?

What if John Parker Wilson had ran on 1st and Goal instead of throwing an almost intercepted pass?

What if Dont'a Hightower's fingers hadn't gotten caught in a facemask on 3rd and 5 and Alabama still leading?

The fact of the matter is, hindsight is 20/20.

There is nothing that can change the past, nothing that can correct those plays or decisions.

Nothing can fix the fact that Alabama couldn't put together their best game of the season when they needed it most.

Nothing can change Florida 31, Alabama 20.

Nothing, until December 5th, 2009.

701 Days. That's All It Took.

Processed (v.)- The act of Nick Saban destroying your coaching career to the point that you are no longer with your team.

As stated in the title, it has only been 701 days since Nick Saban was hired to take over the Alabama Crimson Tide.

That's all it has taken for Saban not only to turn the Tide, but to take back the state, to make his presence known once again in the SEC, and to get Alabama back in the national spotlight.

So how has everyone gotten here over the past 23 months? Here is a quick timeline to refresh your memory.

• Jan. 3rd, 2007: Nick Saban is hired as the 26th head football coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. In his opening press conference the following day, Saban said, "I know there's tremendous expectations here. I can tell you that, however you feel about it, I have even higher expectations for what we want to accomplish. I want to win every game we play."
• Feb. 7th, 2007: Saban signs a recruiting class that has his partial stamp on it. Kareem Jackson and Rolando McClain are the two stars of the class which is ranked 10th by Rivals.com.
• Apr. 21st, 2007: Over 100,000 people crowded Tuscaloosa to watch Nick Saban's team scrimmage in the annual A-Day Game. Fans were turned away at the gate as the largest crowd to ever watch a spring game assembled at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
• Sept. 1st, 2007: Nick Saban makes his debut as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide in a rout of Western Carolina 52-6. The win was Saban's first college win since 2004.
• Sept. 15, 2007: Nick Saban gets his first SEC win at Alabama with a come from behind win against Arkansas 41-38. It was Alabama's first come from behind win in since the Dennis Franchonie era.
• Oct. 20, 2007: The Crimson Tide destroy the Tennessee Volunteers 41-17 in Tuscaloosa to reach 6-2 in Saban's first season. Alabama will enter November tied for first in the SEC West heading into Saban's first game against LSU.
• Nov. 3rd, 2007: LSU comes into Tuscaloosa and comes out with a win 41-34 over Alabama, sending the Crimson Tide into a tailspin to finish their season. Alabama would lose in consecutive weeks to Mississippi State, Louisiana-Monroe, and a sixth straight to Auburn. Alabama finishes the season 6-6, 3-5 in the SEC.
• Dec. 30, 2007: Alabama finishes their season in the Independence Bowl for the second straight season, beating Colorado 30-24. Alabama ends the season 7-6, only the second winning season over the previous five years for the Crimson Tide.
• Jan. 30th, 2008: Jim McElwain is hired by Nick Saban to be Alabama's new offensive coordinator. McElwain leaves Fresno State and simplifies Alabama's offense to avoid confusion for John Parker Wilson and company.
• Feb. 6th, 2008: Alabama puts the finishing touches on the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. Final 48 hour commitments from Mark Ingram and Julio Jones helped to propel the Tide above Notre Dame, Florida, and Ohio State.
• Apr. 12, 2008: Nick Saban's second A-Day Game doesn't sell out, but 72,000 people still come to watch the Crimson Tide practice. The new offense does just enough to get fans interested as to how this team may play this season.
• June 2008: The new freshman class reports to campus for the first time. Combined with a new senior leadership, the freshmen help the team find a new level to practice at, bringing intense competition to each practice.
• Aug. 30th, 2008: Nick Saban's second team hits the turf in the Georgia Dome against Clemson and blows out the Tigers, 34-10. Alabama jumps into the Top 25 while Clemson never fully recovers from their opening game beat down.
• Sept. 27th, 2008: Alabama takes their show on the road to Athens with an undefeated record for a Top 10 match up. The Crimson Tide runs away in the first half on national television en route to a 41-30 victory over the Bulldogs. Alabama vaults to a number two ranking, the highest since 2005.
• Oct. 13th, 2008: Tommy Bowden resigns at Clemson after a dismal start to what was thought to be an ACC championship season.
• Oct. 25th, 2008: Alabama goes into Neyland Stadium and overpowers the Vols, 29-9, to take the second straight game from Tennessee and Phil Fulmer to reach 8-0, the best start for a Nick Saban team. A week later, Phil Fulmer would resign as head coach, effective at the end of the season.
• Nov. 8th, 2008: Alabama reaches 10-0 after a wild, overtime win in Tiger Stadium against LSU, ending a November losing streak in the SEC dating back to 2005. The win was also the first against the Bayou Bengals since 2002.
• Nov. 29th, 2008: Alabama ends a six year skid against the Auburn Tigers with a 36-0 thrashing, ending Auburn's chances for a bowl. The win cemented Alabama's first undefeated regular season since 1994, the first 12-0 regular season in SEC history, and Nick Saban's first undefeated regular season of his career. The loss, the worst for Auburn since 1962, left doubt about Tommy Tuberville's job security.
• Dec. 3rd, 2008: Tommy Tuberville resigns as head coach of the Auburn Tigers.

Those are the important points which bring us to today's events. It is only a matter of time before we see what this means for both Alabama and Auburn. In the meantime, Alabama has a championship to play for.