Nick Saban on Victory Cigars: 'I Don't Smoke, I Just Chew on One for a Little Bit'

Alabama didn't get to light its cigars in 2022 — it will look to change that on Saturday.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Rivalries mean different things to everyone.

There aren't many bigger rivalries in college football than the one going down at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday afternoon, as No. 11 Alabama and No. 17 Tennessee meet on "The Third Saturday in October."

Of course, the winners get to light up victory cigars following the game. For head coach Nick Saban, his cigar never ignites a flame.

"Well, I guess it's fun when you get the opportunity to smoke a cigar," Saban said on Wednesday's SEC teleconference. "I don't smoke, so I just kind of chew on one for a little bit."

"I think games like this that have sort of special innuendos that go with them — it's probably good for the players' relationships with each other, to do things like that, so I don't think there's anything bad about it."

There's a chance that the Crimson Tide and Volunteers won't meet annually in the future with conference realignment and schedule changes. Saban said that's one of the negative consequences of all the changes.

"I just think that's happening all over college football, where you're gonna have these great rivalry games that players, fans, everyone in programs sort of look forward to that are not gonna be able to exist on a year-to-year basis," Saban said. "I think there's a lot of people that are disappointed in some of those things."

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