Alabama focused on team goals not media expectations

SEC Media Days has become a “hype machine”. Over one thousand members of the media attend the event each year and make predictions, including voting for which team is the favorite to win the league championship.

For context, the media has correctly predicted the eventual SEC Champion 10 times in 31 years.

“I’m not here to create expectations for our team. Lots of people will do that,” said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. “But expectations in some way are a premeditated way to create disappointment.”

The preseason predictions will be released on Thursday, at the end of SEC Media Days.

The Crimson Tide is not expected to be chosen as the media’s “favorite” to win the SEC West division and play in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Alabama lost value experience to the NFL; ten Crimson Tide players were selected in the NFL Draft this past April.

What the teams lacks in experience it hopes to make up for in youthful exuberance.

“I think experience matters, I really do, but I also think that when you have young players who are hungry and have great energy and enthusiasm,” said Saban. “That’s helpful to the team chemistry as well.

“When you have as many people that go out for the Draft early and I’m not complaining about that. I love it when we have players that are good enough to go out for the Draft. You’re going to sort of always have a young team because you have four or five starters who would be coming back that all of a sudden are not back.”