Notebook: Nick Saban, Alabama Football Thrived off of "Yummy" Rat Poison

Not usually one to listen to the 'rat poison' put forth by the media, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said that the criticism of his team over the past week served as a motivating factor.

ATLANTA — Heading into Saturday's SEC Championship Game between No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Alabama, the general consensus between the talking heads of the media was that the undefeated and top-ranked Bulldogs had a significant lead before the game even started.

The Crimson Tide under Nick Saban wasn't used to being underdogs. In fact, it was Alabama's 2015 game against Georgia that marked the last time that the Crimson Tide wasn't the betting favorite. While that betting margin was +1 in favor of the Bulldogs, Saturday's game was +6.5 in Georgia's favor.

After Alabama upset Georgia 41-24 to take home the SEC Championship and earn itself a spot in the College Football Playoff, Saban said that it was the 'rat poison' spewed forth by the media that helped motivate his team this past week heading into the game.

"I think what these guys really wanted to gain was more respect," Saban said. "Not just the fact that they were underdogs because I think we had a tremendous amount of respect for Georgia, their team, and what they accomplished.

"You guys gave us a lot of really positive rat poison. The rat poison that you usually give us is usually fatal, but the rat poison that you put out there this week was ... yummy."

How yummy? 

Alabama won its 29th SEC Championship and 10th SEC Championship Game title. It is the eighth consecutive championship game victory for the Crimson Tide (last loss 2008 to Florida, 31-20). 

Saban improved to 10-1 in the championship game, including 8-1 with the Crimson Tide.

Bryce Young finished with 421 passing yards, the most in the championship game history. It topped the 418 set by Alabama’s Mac Jones last year. He also set a championship game record for total offense with 461 yards en route to being named the SEC Championship MVP.

The victory likely locked up the top seeding in the College Football Playoff, and gave the Crimson Tide the most wins all-time over the Associated Press’ No. 1-ranked team with 10, breaking the tie it was previously in with Miami. 

It was the eighth win against a No. 1 opponent for Saban, twice as many as any coach in college football history. 

That's pretty yummy.