A couple things, 1/3

Hey everyone. I just returned home from the Cotton Bowl. What an experience. The people who run that bowl know how to handle business. The actual Cotton Bowl stadium ain't much, but everything else associated with that bowl is first-class, blow-you-away kind of stuff.

I hope they handle my funeral someday. I'll actually feel important.

To business:

• Nick Saban is in at Alabama for $32 million, which is nuts. This is the college football equivalent of Alex Rodriguez's $252-million deal signed in 2000. The Rangers offered $25 mil per year. The next highest bidder was around $18 mil. What Alabama accomplished Wednesday, much as Texas owner Tom Hicks did six years ago, came with a price tag that is financially irresponsible. Athletic directors everywhere are fuming; agents are smiling.
• With that said, it's a brilliant hire for Alabama. Saban is one of the elite college coaches in the country (only Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel are in that group right now) and the Tide needed someone special to get things moving. They overpaid, but this is the guy they needed.
• Auburn D.C. Will Muschamp is NOT going to Alabama with Saban. The end.
• Before everyone starts predicting championships from Saban, though, remember that these retread-coach stories don't always end with major success. Steve Spurrier is an excellent offensive coach. His teams at South Carolina are good but not great. I don't see that changing. He'll go 8-4 or 9-3 most of the time. Bill Walsh wasn't very good at Stanford in the 1990s. Joe Gibbs isn't excelling in the NFL. I'm not knocking Saban. I'm just saying success isn't guaranteed.
  
• Just for the record, I think Tuberville is in that second group of coaches on the national scale. He's joined by Urban Meyer, Lloyd Carr, Bob Stoops and Les Miles. I know. A lot of you don't think Miles is a star, but I believe it. Before you ask: I'm a graudate of U. Kentucky and Transylvania (Ky.) University.
• I was impressed with the game Auburn DT Pat Sims played in the Cotton Bowl. He hustled the whole time, which isn't something you always see out of him. If he could play with more consistency, Sims could be an All-SEC player next season. Having Sims and Sen'Derrick Marks together at tackle is a really nice 1-2 for the Tigers.
• WR commitment Chris Slaughter is going to be a star. Remember me saying this.
  
• While I'm making factually baseless guesses about people, let me add another. Muschamp is going to build a top-rated defense at Auburn during the next two years. As he gathers the linebackers and defensive linemen he really needs to run that defense, the Tigers will become one of the five best NCAA defenses. Book it. All this internet chatter about how Muschamp is in over his head is laughable. The team had some problems this season. He wasn't one of them.
  
• I hated hearing Finebaum trashing Bill Curry on the air today. Great coach? No. A complete and total loser? That's not true and it's the wrong thing to say about someone. Paul Finebaum is a gentleman in person. I don't understand what happens when the mic goes live.
• Hearing the Alabama fans chant at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport this afternoon was hilarious on so many levels. For the record: I'd say that about Washington State or Florida State or Maryland fans just the same. There are fans. There are die-hards. Then there are the people who go to airports to welcome coaches. God bless those people. They make sports fun.