How do football fans in Alabama spend the last couple weeks of the offseason while everyone is worrying about two-deeps and QB battles?
By hunting massive gators.
Check this guy out:
That's a 920-pound gator caught recently in Lake Eufaula and is a new record for the lake at 13 feet and six inches (records are determined by length not weight).
Scott Evans and Jeff and Justin Gregg hauled in the massive alligator on the first night of gator hunting season in Alabama and needed the help of three other men to secure it.
"We are still sore (four days later)," Evans told al.com." It was hard enough to get the head and shoulders in the boat."
It's believed to be the second heaviest alligator ever hunted in Alabama behind a 1,011.5-pound gator caught last year that set a world record at 15 feet and nine inches (that gator cheated, though, with approximately 115 pounds of that coming from a deer in the gator's stomach).
As all of you are probably wondering: What the hell do you do after catching a 920-pound alligator?
Throw a huge Labor Day cookout with 250 pounds of meat. "It won't go to waste," Evans said.
Here are a couple more pics of this beast. And now for some football stuff ...
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. Steve Sarkisian cursed and allegedly drank a lot at a booster event
USC coach Steve Sarkisian got into some trouble over the weekend. Speaking at a Trojans booster event, Sarkisian reportedly had too much to drink and gave a speech that included taking shots at USC rivals and dropping an F-bomb. As colleague Bruce Feldman reported, a lot of people around the program are embarrassed by it and it only heightened the apparent concerns some at USC had with Sark's off-field behavior. He was chewed out by AD Pat Haden and issued a statement apologizing on Sunday.
Just another day and another apology at USC, writes Stewart Mandel.
While we're on the topic of USC, listen to this Audible clip from last week with Feldman and Mandel breaking down what went wrong for Ricky Town at USC, the former four-star QB who transferred to Arkansas before even reaching Week 1 of his freshman year in Los Angeles.
2. Ohio State makes Associated Press Top 25 history
The preseason AP poll came out over the weekend, and the Buckeyes became the first team ever to be a unanimous No. 1 pick, which almost certainly means they now won't win a second consecutive national championship. Couple other nuggets from the AP top 25, courtesy of FOX Sports research guru John Hadley:
* The No. 3 ranking for Alabama is the Tide's worst preseason ranking since 2009, when it ranked fifth, which should put all the "Alabama is crumbling" talk into a bit of perspective.
* With TCU ranked No. 2 and Baylor ranked No. 4, this marks the first time ever the state of Texas had two teams ranked in the top five of the preseason AP poll. Who would have thought whenever that happened that one of them wouldn't be Texas?
* Oklahoma ranks No. 19 in the preseason poll. The last time the Sooners came in that spot was 2000 -- the year they won the national title. Hmmm ...
* This is the first time in 10 years that no SEC team received a first-place vote in the preseason AP poll. THE SKY IS FALLING!!! (Kidding. The league has eight teams in the top 25.)
3. Dalvin Cook trial starts today
Something to follow today: The Dalvin Cook battery trial begins, which will (obviously) determine the fate of Florida State's best offensive player for the 2015 season. If inclined, Tomahawk Nation is providing live updates from the court room (which we will not be refreshing all day, because life is too short).
Couple notes: Boise State picked its starting quarterback, while the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the Class of 2017 has picked Tennessee. Butch Jones keeps rolling on Rocky Top.
LASTLY
* Joe Rexrode wrote an exceptional story on Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis, which I strongly encourage you all read.
* The boy who asked Jim Harbaugh how much milk he needed to drink to become big enough to be a quarterback is now getting a lifetime supply of milk.
* Not CFB-related, but this Lars Anderson story on Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is awesome and has me convinced Arians is the coolest dude in the NFL.
Have a great Monday, everyone.
Teddy Mitrosilis works in social content development at FOX Sports Digital. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.
