BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Is it me, or did Nick Saban just compare his Alabama football team to Muhammad Ali?

No, he didn't suggest that Mar­quis Maze floats like a butterfly or Dre Kirkpatrick stings like a bee, but the coach who loves to dip into other sports for metaphors and an­alogies did invoke the boxing leg­end in an interesting way.

Before his speech to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, I asked Saban if he was concerned that his team has fulfilled only half of his "start fast, finish strong" mantra on a regular basis. He didn't skip a beat.

"I guess the expectation is, if you're Muhammad Ali, you're gonna knock everybody out in the first round," he said. "I don't think he did that in every one of his fights."

True that. Ali didn't win every one of his fights, let alone by early knockout.

"Sometimes he sparred," Saban said.

Sometimes he went rope-a-dope -- looking at you, George Foreman -- and lulled his opponent into a false sense of accomplishment.

Isn't that what Alabama just did to Tennessee? Wasn't it nice of Saban to let the latest protege on the menu, Derek Dooley, feel good about himself for 30 minutes?

"We want to be instant ready," Saban said. "We want to have a sense of urgency to go out and play well early in games. That's impor­tant. I think it's important to start fast and finish strong. But I think it's more important to have the stability on your team to continue to play better and better as the game goes on and make the adjustments you need to make, and our team has been able to do that."

And then some. With a vengeance. As Dooley said last week before meeting Alabama in person, it seems like, when you score first on them, it just ticks them off.

Kevin Scarbinsky is a columnist for The Birmingham News. His column is published on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Let's be honest. Finding a real flaw in this Alabama team after its 8-0 start is harder than finding a sober volunteer to arm-wrestle Trent Richardson, but facts are facts.

Four of the first eight opponents have scored first. Unfortunately for Penn State, Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee, none of them was smart enough to gather under the scoreboard for a team picture at that moment.

You know, just to prove to their kids one day that they actually owned a lead against the 2011 national champions. Just in case.

Of course, proving Dooley's point, the Nittany Lions, Gators, Rebels and Vols combined to score exactly 14 points after their initial burst of enthusiasm. You can picture Dont'a Hightower glaring across the line of scrimmage at each of those teams after their quick strikes and growling, "Fun's over, boys."

You could say the same thing to Hightower and friends now.

Their next opponent isn't physically, schematically or numerically challenged on offense. Or on defense. Or in the kicking game.

Their next opponent won't be playing a true freshman at quarterback who's a threat to faint at the sight of Hightower's blood-red helmet or buckle under the following equation: Mass times acceleration equals Courtney Upshaw.

Their next opponent will be the first heavyweight to step into the same ring with them in a long time.

Come Nov. 5, in this corner, it'll be LSU, the Joe Frazier to Alabama's Muhammad Ali. If the Tigers land a few body blows early, if they're tied with the Crimson Tide after the first quarter, as four of Alabama's first eight foes have been, they won't be surprised or satisfied. And they won't stop swinging.

The most telling part of Saban's boxing comparison isn't that he downplayed the slow starts and accentuated the strong finishes that have defined his team. The worthier the opponent, the more krunked-up his players are sure to be, the more likely he is to rub their necks and tell them, "You're the champ. You're the champ. You're the champ."

He usually goes negative only when the rest of the free world is positive his team is going to dominate.

What's really surprising about his answer Monday is his suggestion that Alabama is the Muhammad Ali of college football. Some people might consider that boastful, but it's hard to dispute the accuracy.

So, if this plays out, Bryant-Denny Stadium becomes Madison Square Garden, and the BCS Championship Game turns into a rematch, college football's answer to the Thrilla in Manila.

I know. Ali and Frazier fought three times, but nobody remembers the middle bout. Everyone will remember everything about Nov. 5, from the opening bell to the final blow.

Alabama, for a change, might want to start at the beginning.

Drop a civil comment below. Write Kevin at kscarbinsky@bhamnews.com. Follow him at www.Twitter.com/KevinScarbinsky.