Reporters have asked Alabama football players a lot this week about how it reasserted “the standard”. The Crimson Tide was 1-1 after a home loss to Texas then struggled against South Florida and didn’t have a starting quarterback. But then Jalen Milroe took over, as did the defense. LANK, etc. It’s been well covered by this point.

So much so that Tide head coach Nick Saban recognized its benefit on Saturday ahead of the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Michigan.

“Well, we had some really good rat poison early, It was almost like Wheaties because everybody criticized us and said, ‘We weren’t any good and we were done and Coach Saban is past his prime and all that.’ It was like eating Wheaties, breakfast of champions. That helped us. So now can we handle the success? That’s the next question,” Saban said outside the stadium at No. 4 Alabama’s media day.

Alabama has remained a 1.5-point underdog by most major sportsbooks. But which side is the favorite in the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup has also been a topic for players. The legitimacy of the Big 10 has been questioned and defended, by both teams. The quarterbacks have been asked about their respective arm strength and mobility, a topic of debate for each.

The Tide and Wolverines have also made it a point to block out external motivators and rally together despite them. UA players said “Let All Naysayers Know” which acted as a rallying cry around Milroe. U-M preached “Michigan vs. Everybody” when its coach John Harbaugh was suspended to start the year for an NCAA recruiting investigation.

“Well, I think that if you’re a competitor and things aren’t going the way you’d like for them to go, you certainly get motivated about it. But it was sort of inspirational to me that the players sort of bought into this whole thing of trying to get better and to prove something,” Saban said.

The heavyweight matchup in Pasadena will kick off Monday at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].