Why is Nick Saban getting along with Tommy Tubberville?

I don't where this phenomenom started but I know its more prevelant among SEC and Big Ten fans. You'll never see NC State fans high-fiving each other because Maryland's RB just outran a West Virginia's CB to the endzone. "WUU-WEE, LOOK AT THAT MID-ATLANTIC SPEED." I'm as guilty of this as anyone, but the more I think about the phenomenom, the more disturing it gets. I don't want a Mississippi State or OLE MISS fratter taking joy in a Florida victory over Ohio State .
"OHH MAN, CLINT, DID YOU SEE THAT FAST GATOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN RUN DOWN THAT SLOW OHIO STATE DB."

"I SURE DID, WYATT, THEM BIG TEN BOYS CAN'T HANG WITH US SOUTHERN BOYS"

No, you're both wrong Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State would beat the Sh*t out of your respective schools.

Anyways, this whole conference loyalty phenom has really taken off the last 10 years. It was getting to the point where SEC schools resented their rivals to the point they would rather play a Big Ten schedule. For example, Georgia and Tennessee fans became so bitter about Florida consistently derailing their NC hopes that they begged for Ohio State's or Michigan's schedule . Yet, SEC fans weren't the only ones guilty of conference loyalty. Ohio State in the 90's is a prime example

"IF WE GOT TO PLAY OLE MISS, ARKANSAS and KENTUCKY EVERY YEAR, WE WOULD HAVE WON 6 NATIONAL TITLES IN THE 90's"

Up until this past season, the whole conference fan phenomenom could be described as follows: having a claim to playing in tough conference was a good way to rationalize a mediocre season. Then came the season that brought a whole new element to the conference loyalty phenomenom. You guys know what I'm getting at: ESPN, KIRK HERBSTREIT and the OHIO STATE-MICHIGAN fiasco. ESPN started running the clock on tOSU-UM seven weeks before kickoff. They told us no one could play with those two. They ingored their weaknesses but focused on everyone else's.

"MICHIGAN STRUGGLED WITH NORTHWESTERN and BALL STATE BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T TRYING. FLORIDA, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS GIVING IT ALL THEY HAD AGAINST VANDY and SOUTH CAROLINA."

Beyond boosting the BIG TEN ego, the clock running fiasco pissed off every college football fan, coach and player outside the Rust Belt. As a result, ESPN/ABC brought together non-Big Ten conference rivals because ESPN ignored them for two months. (Did you guys even realize that CAL-USC and BAMA-AUBURN also played on Nov. 18). Then, the Southern Press sided with Florida, Mitch Album and Lloyd Carr attacked Urban Meyer's integrity, Lloyd Carr then took it a step further, even after the loss to USC, by attacking Florida's integrity as an academic institution. Finally, Jim "the racist" Delaney told the nation what Big Ten university presidents believed but never told the media--SEC Universities are at a competitive advantage in football because their "loose" admissions standards are friendlier to black athletes than the strigent standards of the BIG TEN.

So, if you're wondering why conference rivals are getting along, you have no one to blame but ESPN for the chain events they set off.