Final thread on Saban

[Brad]

I thought this was great to see on CBSSportsline.com (national), regarding Saban's remarks:

Says Dennis Dodd:

• What's all the fuss about the admission standards at South Florida (at Florida Atlantic)?

"The distribution of players is not the same for everyone," Alabama's Nick Saban told the Birmingham News this week. "We can't take (partial qualifiers) in the SEC. They can't take them in the ACC. There's a significant amount of players who don't qualify and they end up being pretty good players at some of these schools."

" ... at some of these schools ..." seems to be a clear shot at South Florida, which -- the grapevine keeps saying -- built its program with academically marginal prospects.

Sit down, Nick and let WWL lecture you for a second. It's up to each individual school to establish its own admission standards. That's why there are junior colleges and the Ivy League.

Don't go jamming Jim Leavitt and his Bulls. Players from Texas, Florida and others have routinely filled up jails just this year. And WWL missed the memo when 'Bama became the Harvard of the South. 'Bama was one of three schools in the running for running back Noel Devine when everyone else dropped out (Devine eventually went to West Virginia).

Why did Saban pop off? Check the South Florida backfield. Mike Ford and Jamar Taylor are both Alabama transfers.

[Rocky Style]

It's the Final Countdown!

[Bull Martin]

I like the article, but the tittle of the thread is obviosly a lie.

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.tbo.com/news/opinion/editorials/MGB24PQIC7F.html

When asked the other day about the University of South Florida football team's rapid rise to a national top 10 ranking, University of Alabama coach Nick Saban responded to the Birmingham News saying that USF had players that weren't academically good enough to play at Florida or Florida State.

That, of course, is nonsense, as Bulls coach Jim Leavitt quickly pointed out. Saban, however, should hold his tongue when talking about academic standards.

In 2000, Saban's former college team, Louisiana State University, raised its standards for admission in order to prove its status as a flagship university.

But the new standards do not apply to one group of LSU students: athletes.

The LSU Board of Supervisors agreed to allow exceptions for admission for any athlete meeting the NCAA freshman eligibility minimum of a 2.5 GPA in 13 core courses and a 17 on the ACT. One member told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "In order to compete in Division I, you have to have a level playing field, and that's by staying with the NCAA standards."

No doubt this admission double standard helped Saban build a successful program when he coached at LSU from 2000 to 2004. He should be careful about criticizing the policies of other schools.

[crambone]

0wn3d!