This Alabama graduate had a big surprise waiting for him after Saturday's commencement ceremony in Tuscaloosa...

Alabama QB AJ McCarron will drive the pace car and lead the Sprint Cup race for the first lap at Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Speedway.

Michael Waltrip's No. 55 Aaron's Toyota will honor Alabama’s national title with a special themed car that notes back-to-back championships and says “Roll Tide” on the back.

The Montgomery Advertiser down in Alabama awarded the NCAA national title to Syracuse on the masthead of their front page in today’s paper....

Bret Bielema spoke to the Saline County Razorback Club, claiming he came to Arkansas to win SEC Titles. He also threw in a dig at Nick Saban, pointing out how he was a much better Big Ten coach than Saban was at Michigan State.

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“I came to the SEC for a variety of reasons, but the major one in my mind was to win an SEC championship.”

The new head Hog, hired in December from Wisconsin, then addressed two-time defending national champion Alabama and Coach Nick Saban. “The reason the SEC is talked about all the time is one team, because of their dominance. But I didn’t come here to play Alabama. I came here to beat Alabama.

“You can take Saban’s record when he was at Michigan State and when he was a coach in the Big Ten and put it against mine, and he can’t compare.”

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Alabama and Wisconsin will open the 2015 season against each other at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 5, 2015 the schools announced Wednesday. "As a league, we decided that we needed to upgrade our nonconference schedule," Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said in an official release.

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"We understand that strength of schedule will be a factor in determining which teams earn the right to participate in the new four-team playoff system, and we want to be in that mix. There's no better way to do that than by playing the defending national champions. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a storied program like Alabama in a terrific venue like Cowboys Stadium. It will be a great experience for our program, our players and our fans."

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