GameDay Crowd Boos Saban
Tennessee Fans Deliver Profane Chant After Nick Saban’s Cigar Joke on GameDay
Anonymous
During ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast in Knoxville ahead of Tennessee’s game against Texas, analyst Nick Saban joked that he was backing Tennessee because Alabama had “smoked 16 of 17 cigars” against the Volunteers. The line referred to Saban’s 16-1 record against Tennessee as Alabama’s coach from 2007 to 2023, including a 15-game winning streak that ended with the Vols’ 2022 victory. Tennessee fans booed Saban and responded with a profane chant, while fellow analyst Pat McAfee played up the exchange.
Key Points
1
The cigar reference alludes to Alabama’s post-win tradition against Tennessee: players pass out cigars in the locker room, and the school has typically reported the cigars as a rules violation because they are considered an extra benefit.
2
Before Saban’s first Alabama-Tennessee game in 2007, Tennessee had won 10 of the previous 12 meetings; Alabama then beat the No. 20 Volunteers 41-17 in Saban’s first Third Saturday in October matchup as the Crimson Tide’s coach.
3
Alabama got a measure of revenge after Tennessee’s 2022 upset, beating the Volunteers 34-20 in 2023 in Saban’s final matchup against them.
4
Saban also faced Tennessee while coaching LSU: his Tigers lost 26-18 at Neyland Stadium in 2001, but beat the Vols in the SEC title game that year; LSU had also defeated Tennessee in overtime in Baton Rouge in 2000.
5
The crowd booed when ESPN host Rece Davis introduced Saban as “the greatest coach in the history of college football,” before the chant following Saban’s remark.
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