Saban: Media's rat poison leading into Georgia game was 'yummy'

Alabama and head coach Nick Saban relished their status as underdogs leading up to the SEC championship game against No. 1 Georgia.

"You guys gave us a lot of really positive rat poison," Saban told reporters after his squad beat the Bulldogs to lock up another conference title. "The rat poison that you usually give us is usually fatal. But the rat poison that you put out there this week was yummy."

Alabama entered Saturday's affair as the betting underdog for the first time in 93 games. Georgia, which rolled into battle with a perfect 12-0 record, was favored by 6.5 points.

The Crimson Tide won by 17 points, clinching their eighth SEC title of the Saban era and ensuring their participation in the College Football Playoff. They were ranked third in the penultimate CFP rankings, and a loss could've knocked them out of the top four.

Saban first introduced the term "rat poison" in 2017 when he accused the media of feeding his team too much hype. Alabama went on to win the national championship that season.

The 2021 SEC title game marked only the sixth time since 2008 that Alabama was an underdog, according to Brett McMurphy of Action Network.