nj
Pat McAfee appeared in a suit, and Cosmo the Cougar parachuted into Provo as the crowd buzzed for ESPN's College GameDay. McAfee, along with celebrity picker and former BYU and NFL standout Steve Young, gave the BYU faithful reasons to celebrate, but Nick Saban provided a different kind of highlight.
Saban, the former Alabama head coach, expressed strong support for BYU. "I really like BYU's team this year," he said. "This might be the best team they've had for a long time. They play good defense. I like Bear Bachmeier. I picked BYU as my Super Dog."
However, Saban also posed a question about Notre Dame's motto this year: "Leave no doubt." He then picked Notre Dame.
Saban's former team, Alabama, is set to face Tennessee in an SEC rivalry game. Most of the panel backed the Tide, but one analyst favored the Vols. "I promised my friend Reggie White, the greatest defensive football player in history, that I would never go against Tennessee," Young said, standing alone in his pick.
Desmond Howard cited Alabama's defensive potential: "I think Alabama's defense is going to step up. They'll have a turnover for a score. I believe Alabama is going to win. They will be smoking cigars when this one is over."
Saban agreed but pointed out challenges. "I think Alabama's got a couple of challenges in this game," he said. "First of all, their defense has to stop the run better than they have. Secondly, they are going to have to lock up Tennessee's defense, so (Alabama quarterback) Keelon Russell has chances to make plays down the field."
McAfee echoed Saban's confidence. "Alabama, fresh out of that loss with Georgia, I don't think we really downgraded Alabama that much in our mind," he said. "Tennessee, a couple of times, we thought maybe they aren't the team we thought they were, so on that note, give me Roll Tide. Give me Alabama."
Kirk Herbstreit focused on balance, or the lack thereof, for Tennessee. "They are going to need the home field advantage to be the difference because they don't have balance," he said. "The quarterback situation is 111th in the country in throwing the ball. Without balance, you aren't going to move the ball against Alabama. Bama gets the cigars after the game."
Key Analysis
The GameDay crew's picks reveal distinct perspectives on the matchups. In the Ohio State-Indiana game, Howard and McAfee chose Indiana, while Saban, Young, and Herbstreit picked Ohio State, highlighting a split in confidence. For Alabama-Tennessee, the panel was nearly unanimous for Alabama, with only Young dissenting due to a personal vow. The analysts also made picks for other games, including Utah at Colorado (all picked Utah), Wisconsin at UCLA (Saban, McAfee, and Young chose UCLA; Howard and Herbstreit picked Wisconsin), Penn State at Michigan (Howard, Saban, Young, and Herbstreit picked Michigan; McAfee chose Penn State), Kentucky at Oklahoma (Howard, Saban, and Herbstreit picked Oklahoma; McAfee and Young chose Kentucky), Oklahoma State at Houston (Howard and Herbstreit picked Oklahoma State; Saban, McAfee, and Young chose Houston), Mississippi State at LSU (all picked LSU), Missouri at Ole Miss (Howard, Saban, McAfee, and Young picked Ole Miss; Herbstreit chose Missouri), and Notre Dame at BYU (Howard and Saban picked Notre Dame; McAfee and Young picked BYU; Herbstreit abstained).
Originally reported by nj.