Nick Saban admits SEC title game pick of Georgia vs. Texas was 'reverse rat poison' for Alabama

Nick Saban used some reverse psychology when picking his teams for the 2024 SEC Championship.

Back at SEC Media Days in Dallas, Saban picked Georgia and Texas to meet in Atlanta rather than Alabama. Now, on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ from Dublin on Friday, he explained that he meant for it to be “reverse rat poison” for his former team in the Crimson Tide.

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“Well, it’s kind of reverse rat poison,” said Saban in Ireland.

Saban prefaced the topic by saying he has never liked and won’t ever want to make predictions to begin with. So, on its face, he’s reluctantly making those picks that come with being an analyst now.

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“I always hated it. I’m going to hate it on this show,” Saban said. “I might as well say it right off the bat – this show, any show, or GameDay. Having to predict and make hypothetical decisions about who’s going to win a game? Who’s going to win the championship, who’s going to win what conference? I’ve always hated that.”

With that, he did this one in hopes of motivating ‘Bama. He never wanted anyone to predict for them to make the conference championship so, for the debut season for Kalen DeBoer, Saban provided the Tide with what he thought would be more inspiring for them.

“I picked Georgia and Texas because it’s reverse rat poison for Alabama. It’s a motivating factor for them not to get picked,” said Saban. “I hated to be picked first or second because you don’t know how that’s going to impact your team psychologically. These kids are affected a lot by what they read, what they hear, what they see. I didn’t want them to see anything too good.”

Saban never wanted to have a taste of rat poison while he was head coach of the Crimson Tide. However, in giving them the opposite, he thinks it’ll be what Alabama needs to be back again in the SEC Championship in December.

Saban, SEC Analysts make predictions for 2024 SEC Championship

At SEC Media Days last month in Dallas, Nick Saban picked who would be in the conference championship this year. He did so alongside Greg McElroy and Benjamin Watson.

Saban predicted Texas would take on Georgia in the SEC Championship. McElroy also chose the Longhorns but said they’d go against Alabama. As for Watson, he went with the ‘Dawgs against Ole Miss.

While Saban pointed out Ole Miss’ changes he thinks Texas has the fire power, especially with quarterback depth, on offense. As for McElroy, the reason he picked against Georgia was due to the schedule. Finally, Watson argued the Bulldogs have enough consistency while also giving Ole Miss their flowers.