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A crowd fills the gym at the Wills Valley Arts and Recreation Center in Fort Payne for the Crimson Caravan's fifth of eight stops this spring. (Don Kausler Jr./dkausler@al.com)

FORT PAYNE, Alabama -- Before speaking at the Crimson Caravan's fifth stop of the spring, Alabama coach Nick Saban answered some reporters' questions.

He was asked about comments that Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops made early this week about the Southeastern Conference's dominance being propaganda.

“I didn’t even know he said it, so you’re going to have to tell me what he said,” Saban said. “I’ve got more important things to do than sit around and read what Bob Stoops has to say about anything. But I like Bob Stoops, and I respect him as a coach, but I’m really trying to manage our business.”

Saban was told that Stoops implied that the Big 12 Conference was stronger because its weakest teams are better than the teams at the bottom of the SEC. Teams from the SEC have won seven consecutive BCS championships.

“Well, we don’t play everybody in the Big 12 or whatever it is, so I really don’t know much about their league,” Saban said. “We have a lot of respect for what they do at Oklahoma, and I really don’t think that people that don’t play in our league really don’t understand the quality of our league from top to bottom.

“I think there’s probably a lot of animosity out there because of the success that we have in our league, but I think that kind of goes with the territory. I understand that. But we certainly respect the great program that they have at Oklahoma and the other good programs that they have in the Big 12.”