Nick Saban reacts to Alabama jumping Clemson in polls |
| - - Thursday, October 3, 2019, 2:29 PM |
Alabama is the new No. 1 AP team in the land after week 5 action.
The Crimson Tide jumped Clemson after the Tigers barely defeated North Carolina 21-20 in Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon. Nick Saban was asked about his team leap-frogging Clemson in the polls and believes it's more 'rat-poison' talk. "I don’t think it really matters at all where you’re ranked or rated right now," he said. "It only matters when it’s in January. When the season’s over, that’s all that matters. It can slip away very quickly. As it did last this week, it wasn’t even because the team (Clemson) didn’t win. It must’ve been somebody’s perception of how they played. So it’s not even about winning, it’s about how you played." Saban then started talking about how his players should focus on playing to the best of their ability, no matter the ranking or score. "I think every player creates value by being his best every time he gets the opportunity to compete. The scoreboard shouldn’t matter. Who you’re playing shouldn’t matter. And where you’re ranked shouldn’t matter. And what somebody says on the internet shouldn’t matter. You should be playing because you want to get the self-satisfaction to know you did the best to be the best that you can be. Hopefully, that’s what we can get our players to focus on. Sometimes we have succeeded in that, and sometimes we haven't." #Alabama’s Nick Saban on avoiding clutter, its No. 1 ranking: “It can slip away very quickly. As it did last week, it wasn’t even because (Clemson) didn’t win. It must’ve been somebody’s perception of how they played. So it’s not even about winning, it’s about how you played.” pic.twitter.com/BmL7WeWWhP
