When youre trying to put the accomplishments of Alabamas Nick Saban into some kind of historical perspective there are a lot of numbers to choose from:?Alabama has won four of the past seven national championships. He has five national championships in his career, second only to Alabamas Bear Bryant, who won six.?The No. 1 Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0 SEC) enter Saturdays game with No. 6 Texas A&M (6-0, 4-0) with a 19-game winning streak, which is Sabans personal best.?A win over Texas A&M would be Alabamas third straight against a team ranked in the AP Top 25. Only one other time in history (1999) has Alabama done that.?Since Saban has been at Alabama he has coached in 28 games where both teams were ranked in the Top 10. He is 22-6 in those games.But here is the number that I think cements Sabans status as a future Hall of Fame coach:Since the inception of the AP poll in 1936, Alabama has played 66 games as the nations No. 1 team. Of those 66 games where Alabama has been ranked No. 1, a staggering 42 of them have come in the 10 seasons with Nick Saban as head coach. He is 37-5 in those games.And heres the kicker: There is talk that the 2016 team could be Sabans best at Alabama.Whether or not Saban and Alabama can keep it rolling against Texas A&M is one of many good storylines for Saturday. Here are a few more: When No. 21 Auburn (4-2, 2-1) started 1-2 there were a lot of doubts about where the 2016 season was headed. But now the Tigers have won three straight and have picked up some confidence along the way.When Auburn was 1-2 Malzahn asked for patience because he could see that things would get better, and they have.The good thing about our team is that the leadership is very strong, Malzahn told reporters this week.Now Auburn has the No. 3 rushing offense (262.83 ypg), a quarterback (Sean White) who is completing almost 70 percent of his passes and a defense that is fourth in the SEC in points allowed (16.0 ppg). After an off week Auburn hosts No. 17 Arkansas (5-2, 1-2), who is coming off a big 34-30 win over Ole Miss. It has been a very interesting ride for LSU. The Tigers started off with a gut-wrenching 16-14 loss to Wisconsin, a game that looks better with each passing week. After an 18-13 loss at Auburn in the fourth game, head coach Les Miles was fired and defensive line coach Ed Orgeron became the interim.LSU has beaten Missouri (42-7) and Southern Mississippi (45-10) under Orgeron but the Tigers Oct. 8 game with Florida was postponed due to Hurricane Matthew.So we really dont know how good No. 25 LSU (4-2, 2-1) really is, but were going to find out soon. The Tigers host No. 23 Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2) on Saturday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). LSU takes next week off and then hosts No. 1 Alabama.The good news for LSU is that running back Leonard Fournette will return to action after missing three games due to nagging ankle injuries. Both Mississippi State (2-4, 1-2) and Kentucky (3-3, 2-2) will still have an outside shot at a bowl when they meet at Commonwealth Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).Kentucky has had a week off since beating Vanderbilt 20-13 and has won three of its last four games. The only loss in that stretch was to No. 1 Alabama (34-6).Mississippi State has to be physically and emotionally exhausted. The Bulldogs are playing their fourth road game in the last five outings. Last week they traveled all the way to Provo, Utah and lost 28-21 in double overtime.If Kentucky could win and beat Austin Peay on Nov. 19, the Wildcats would have to find just one more win to get to a bowl. Given the fact that UK was 5-7 the past two seasons that would be big, really big. UMass (1-6) will play its third SEC opponent of the year when it faces South Carolina (2-4, 1-4) at Williams-Brice Stadium (Noon ET, SEC Network).The big story in Will Muschamps first year as head coach is the struggling South Carolina offense. The Gamecocks are last in the FBS in scoring, averaging only 14.0 points per game.Muschamp may pull the redshirt off of freshman quarterback Jake Bentley. Bentley, who skipped his entire senior year of high school to enroll at South Carolina, has not played this season. He would be the second true freshman quarterback to start for the Gamecocks this season. Brandon McIlwain has played in five of South Carolinas six games this season. Vanderbilt won its biggest game of the Derek Mason era last week when the Commodores beat Georgia (17-16) in Athens. Now Vanderbilt (3-4, 1-3) will have a chance to get back to .500 when it hosts Tennessee State (5-1), an FCS team from the Ohio Valley Conference.Tennessee State, which is also located in Nashville, has lost only once this season and that was on the road at Eastern Illinois, 35-34. The Tigers are ranked No. 25 in all of the FCS polls.Vanderbilt will be trying to win two straight games for the first time under Mason.Were trying to take a snowflake (the Georgia win) and turn it into a snowball, said Mason. Missouri (2-4, 0-3) has been struggling of late, losing to LSU (42-7) and Florida (40-14) in its last two games.Normally stepping outside of the conference would provide some relief, but the Tigers are hosting a Middle Tennessee State team (4-2) that can light up the scoreboard.The Blue Raiders are led by quarterback Brent Stockstill, the son of head coach Rick Stockstill. The younger Stockstill has thrown for over 300 yards in nine of his last 12 outings.Middle Tennessee is 24th nationally in scoring at 38.5 points per game.They are a very explosive and well-coached team, said Barry Odom, Mizzous first-year coach. We havent played well the past couple of weeks but weve played some very good teams. Were not that far off.Nike Zoom Wholesale . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Nike Zoom Online Shop . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . http://www.nikezoomoutlet.com/ .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Nike Zoom Outlet . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Nike Zoom Clearance . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Mens golf gets four days to make up for four months of negative chatter about whether it even belongs in the Olympics.Not even a dreary sky with occasional rain could dampen the enthusiasm Wednesday on the final day of practice at Olympic Golf Course.No matter what happens this week, its the greatest week of my life, two-time major champion Martin Kaymer said.Bubba Watson was buzzing about watching Michael Phelps win the 200-meter butterfly the night before. British Open champion Henrik Stenson, an imposing figure in golf, felt small next to some of the other athletes in the gym at the Olympic Village.If you want to get motivated, thats definitely a place to be, he said. Theres a lot of athletes from different sports in there, and I didnt try and go for some dead lifts of 80, 90 kilos when there was a guy holding up 180 kilos on both arms.The biggest thrill for so many has been hanging around so many Olympians.Now its their turn. Adilson da Silva of Brazil was chosen to hit the opening tee shot Thursday morning.Not since 1904 in St. Louis has golf been part of the Olympic program, with George Lyon of Canada winning the gold medal. Every major golf organization lobbied for its return, pledging support from the best players in the world. And thats what golf had until four months ago, when the deadline began approaching and players began bailing out for reasons ranging from the Zika virus to safety concerns to other priorities.Most damaging was losing the top four players in the world -- Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. The Rio Games effectively are an audition before the International Olympic Committee votes next year on whether golf should stay beyond 2020.Its certainly not helpful, but now we are looking forward and concentrating on those players who are here, International Golf Federation President Peter Dawson said.The best golf can do now is put on a memorable show.The course, designed by American architect Gil Hanse specifically for the Rio Games, features wide fairways and no rough to account for wind that can get up to about 40 mph, and already has this week. It also offers a three-hole finish that could leave the outcome in doubt until the laast hole.ddddddddddddDoes it need a big name winning the gold medal, like Stenson or Kaymer or Watson? A surprise winner from a developing golf nation like Li Haotong of China or Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand? A playoff like the way Rickie Fowler won The Players Championship? A dominant performance like Stenson at Royal Troon?If you genuinely want the best thing thats going to happen, youre going to have four or five players in with a chance of winning with three or four holes to go ... and Padraig Harrington finishing eagle-birdie-eagle to win it outright, Harrington said.One unknown remains the size of the gallery. Golf is used to being the biggest show when it comes to down, especially the majors. Now it is but one of 39 sports or disciplines, many of them with a much greater tradition in the Olympics. The IGF said about 58 percent of the tickets have been sold, with Sunday a sellout of 12,000.The other mystery is golf itself. Not even the most dominant player of his era, Tiger Woods, could guarantee victories in any given week.I think I can give you a list of 10 to 15 guys who I think are going to find the medals, and thats going to be among the strong players that are here, most likely, Stenson said. Were a different sport. It not like some of the other sports where if you jump a certain distance or swim at a certain time, you can pretty much figure out who is going to win. Ours is a bit more down to the form for the week and on any given day. Its a little trickier to find the golf and silver and bronze.For three days, this has looked and felt just like any other tournament except for players being in team uniforms (even though this is only 72 holes of individual stroke play for the medals). Still to be determined is how it feels with a gold medal -- any medal -- on the line.For me, Ill approach it like any tournament, Kaymer said. But when Sunday comes, you will approach it differently, because whether youre fourth or 20th, no one really cares. At the end of the day, you play for the top three or you play for the golden pineapple, which no one cares about. ' ' '