Lane Kiffin rallies to prop up Nick Saban, even if Paul Finebaum won't | Toppmeyer

NASHVILLE – Nick Saban offered an unusual take on expectations and success for someone who’s experienced so much of both.

“Expectations, in some way, are a premeditated way to create disappointment,” Alabama's football coach said Wednesday at SEC Media Days.

That sounds like a mantra from the “Lower Your Standards, Raise Your Average” school of thinking.

“I'm not here to create expectations for our team,” Saban added. “Lots of people will do that.”

Really, who’s doing that?

Alabama’s usual helping of rat poison is being redirected to its SEC rivals.

For the first time since 2015, the media will pick someone other than Alabama to win the SEC. Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs wrested supremacy away from Alabama, and rival LSU is gobbling up oxygen from the preseason hype generator.

Where’s the love for Alabama?

“Disrespectful,” Alabama offensive lineman JC Latham said of this uncommon lack of lofty outside expectations. “I don’t appreciate that at all. I know this group. We’re going to win it all. National championship. Undefeated."

That makes one person who thinks so, anyway. Don’t include me in that camp, not after watching Saban squander so much talent last season while Alabama played as undisciplined as ever and ranked among the nation's most penalized teams.

Sometimes a reboot can be helpful after a season of disappointment. To that end, Alabama got a facelift. This team has a new roster, a new staff and a desire to play a throwback brand of Saban ball where games are won in the trenches. Still, legitimate questions linger, including:

– Who’s the starting quarterback, and will he play up to the Alabama standard?

– Why does the university that produced Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith seemingly lack a go-to receiver?

– Are youthful Tommy Rees and old-timer Kevin Steele the right combination of coordinators?

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Saban remains the standard, but if Georgia wins a third straight national championship, Smart will have achieved something Saban never did. In fact, no college football team has three-peated since Minnesota in the 1930s.

Achieve that, and we might need to start rethinking the conversation for greatest of all time.

Saban, though, still enjoys at least one true believer. No one rallies behind Saban quite like Lane Kiffin. The Ole Miss coach steadfastly defends his former boss.

“He’s the best to ever do it,” Kiffin said Thursday. “I’ve said it before, and I really do believe, he is the best coach to ever do it.”

Even if Smart wins a third straight title, I wouldn’t expect Kiffin to reorder his GOAT standings. He scoffs at any questioning of the health of Alabama’s dynasty, especially if those questions are generated by college football’s boldest opinion artist, Paul Finebaum.

“Paul’s always wrong on this subject,” Kiffin said.

Finebaum’s loyal talk-show callers from Alabama would agree with Kiffin, and Saban’s supporters probably rolled their eyes (or shouted an expletive) when Finebaum said this week that Georgia winning a third straight national championship while Alabama becomes a bystander would qualify as “a big hit” to Saban’s legacy.

I consider Saban’s legacy unimpeachable, but the GOAT debate is subject to rearrangement, depending on Smart’s achievements. And Finebaum was spot-on when he said Saban wasted what, entering last season, was the nation's best team.

“That’s why we have Finebaum,” Kiffin said wryly, “so he can motivate (Saban) every other year. … Thanks a lot for (ticking) him off.”

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Georgia’s uprising at Alabama’s expense shouldn’t sit well with Saban, but if he’s ticked off, he didn’t show it Wednesday.

Saban was as reserved as ever during his annual media days address. He spared us a lecture and instead discussed his grandma’s baking philosophy and reflected on his trip to Italy, an anniversary celebration with his wife.

While the Sabans were overseas, hype and expectations built behind teams like Georgia and LSU, while Alabama receded from the spotlight.

Alabama, an underdog in 2023?

Kiffin wouldn't hear of it, but that’s nonetheless a label Alabama has fairly earned. Those lofty outside expectations Saban spoke of are now reserved for Georgia.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Lane Kiffin rallies to prop up Nick Saban, even if Paul Finebaum won't