TUSCALOOSA -- Alabama coach Nick Saban and his assistants have been busy recruiting and watching film of Texas the past two weeks.

"Call my wife and ask her how busy I've been," he said.

The two-week window for recruiting was less than coaches whose teams aren't in bowl games or didn't play in conference championship games.

"We covered a lot of ground," he said.

Related to how busy he has been, Saban gave a long answer Saturday when asked about being loved by Alabama fans. He talked about his love for Alabama fans but said it all comes down to winning.

And speaking of love. ...

"I'm just hoping that I don't kicked, 'cause the dogs get treated better than me when I go home," he said. "It was my anniversary yesterday and I forgot. I didn't know what day it was. Things are not going real well right now for me. I tried to buy a present. I made a nice card. I did a lot of things.

"There's a few things you ought to know. When I go recruiting for two straight weeks, I kind of lose track of the date and the time. I have a wonderful wife. She's very understanding and very supportive ... and I wish her a happy anniversary, even though it's a day late and probably a dollar short."