Aflac! Imagine Deion Sanders And Nick Saban In A Bowl Game - It Could Happen

I can see the new Aflac commercial now.

Both Colorado coach Deion Sanders and Alabama coach Nick Saban in those light blue Aflac tops just before kickoff at the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Dec. 22 (6:30 p.m., ESPN).

Don't laugh. It is possible. And Deion would be close to his roots from Fort Myers, Florida, and Florida State in Tallahassee.

The Gasparilla Bowl is a third-tier bowl that matched the unranked Wake Forest (7-5, 3-5 ACC) and Missouri (6-6, 3-5 SEC) last season with Wake winning, 27-17.

Rising Colorado And Slipping Alabama In Gasparilla Bowl?

So, if No. 19 Colorado (3-0) and Coach Prime keep rising from the 1-11 season a year ago, but not too much, it could end up with four or five losses. And if No. 13 Alabama (2-1) keeps sliding, the two programs could be on a collision course at the middle of mediocrity.

"The Gasparilla Bowl will welcome two teams from among the SEC, the ACC, the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Big 12, Conference-USA, Mid-American (MAC), Mountain West, Pac-12 and independents," a recent press release from the bowl states.

So, you're telling me there's a chance.

Nick Saban's team did not look like a Saban-coached Alabama team in its 17-3 win over South Florida on Saturday. (Getty Images)

The Buffaloes are 21-point underdogs at No. 10 Oregon (3-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC). Then No. 5 USC (3-0) visits Boulder on Sept. 30. After that, four more ranked teams await - No. 22 UCLA (3-0) on Oct. 28, No. 14 Oregon State (3-0) on Nov. 4, No. 21 Washington State (3-0) on Nov. 17 and No. 11 Utah (3-0) on Nov. 25.

No. 13 Alabama (2-1) hosts No. 15 Ole Miss (3-0) after looking awful in a 17-3 win over 34-point underdog South Florida last week. The Tide is a touchdown favorite, but the Rebels are a popular pick. Other future possible losses for Alabama the way it looks now are Texas A&M (2-1) on Oct. 7, No. 23 Tennessee (2-1) on Oct. 21, No. 12 LSU (2-1) on Nov. 4 and Auburn (3-0) on Nov. 25.

Deion Sanders Vs. Nick Saban - Dream Matchup

Deion and Satan - what a possible match!

The two have been making nice of late, but they sparred just two years ago over Name, Image & Likeness. When Sanders was at Jackson State, he nabbed cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter - the No. 1 high school prospect in the nation from West Palm Beach, Florida - away from Alabama, Florida State and other much more iconic programs for his 2021 class. Hunter later followed Sanders to Colorado.

"I mean Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars and they bragged about it," Saban said in the spring of 2021. "Nobody did anything about it. We have a rule right now that says you can't use NIL to entice a player to come to your school."

Sanders shot back, but was nice about it.

"He's the magna cum laude of college football, and he's earned that," Sanders said of his Aflac television commercial partner. "But he took a left when he should've stayed right. I'm sure he'll get back on course. I ain't tripping. I still love him. I admire him. I respect him."

Nick Saban On Coach Prime

A Wall Street Journal writer asked Saban what he thought of his "Aflac co-star" as a coach, outside of the marketing and motivational skills, on the SEC teleconference on Wednesday.

"I haven't been able to see him a lot," Saban said. "Saw a little bit of the game last week against Colorado State. But I have a tremendous amount of respect for Deion Sanders. He's a great person, and he's done a great job of marketing the program to create a lot of national interest."

Colorado Buffaloes Have Caught Nick Saban's Eye

Nick Saban also sees good coaching.

"I see their team playing well," he said. "They play with discipline. They do a good job of executing. They've been able to score points, play decent on defense. So, you know, those things are indicators that he's a really good coach. I've always thought that. And he's always been successful."

Sanders was 4-3 in his first season at Jackson State with a 3-2 mark in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in the 2020 COVID season. He followed that with a pair of SWAC titles in 2021 and '22 with 11-2 and 8-0 and 12-1 and 8-0 records. Prior to Jackson State, he coached at high schools in Texas following his TV broadcast career that came after he achieved stardom in the NFL and Major League Baseball.

"He's always been successful," Saban said. "Whether it was Jackson State, high school, or now at Colorado. His teams have always been well coached."

If Sanders and Saban each coach as well as they ever have for the rest of this season, they can forget about the Gasparillo Bowl. Maybe they'll meet in the College Football Playoff.

Now that would be something to quack about.

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