Michigan-Texas might've been the game of the day in college football, but it wasn't the game of Nick Saban's day.

As the final seconds ticked away in the Longhorns' blowout win over the Wolverines, the legendary Alabama football coach was already at Bryant-Denny Stadium, waving to a raucous throng of Alabama fans, having just been at Michigan Stadium a few hours earlier. Nobody could've blamed Saban if he hadn't made it to his field − his name is now on it, after all − in time for the pregame dedication of Saban Field. There was a second ceremony at halftime of the Crimson Tide's 42-16 win over South Florida, witnessed by a bunch of his former players who attended the game, that would've made for a far easier travel day.

But even in retirement, Saban knows how to keep a tight schedule.

GOODBREAD: Mirror-check time for Alabama after another escape of USF

REPORT CARD: How Alabama fared in 42-16 win over USF

We know he was in Ann Arbor, Mich., at 11 a.m., and not yet at Ann Arbor Municipal Airport, either. He was on the field in the Big House, as it's called, on the set of ESPN's "College GameDay," when it signed off right before the Michigan-Texas kickoff. And we know the gray Mercedes that whisked him into the driveway that separates University Boulevard from the Walk of Champions outside Bryant-Denny Stadium arrived at 2:29 p.m. right on time for the dedication scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

That's three hours and 29 minutes from UM's field to UA's; coincidentally, 3:29 was the official length of the Texas-Michigan tilt.

Of course, ground transportation is different for Nick Saban than anyone else.

One can only assume that ESPN's vast resources assisted him with a quick getaway from Michigan Stadium to Ann Arbor's airport on the front end of the trip, and the familiar Tuscaloosa police escorts − two on motorcycles, in this case − breezed him into Bryant-Denny on the back end. With enough time to spare for Saban to briefly pop into his BDS office before the ceremony.

A representative with Charter Flight Group, a private flight service, told me a charter bird from Ann Arbor to Tuscaloosa would take two hours and fifteen minutes. Saban's flight managed to do it in under two hours, I'm told, but that still didn't leave much room for travel hiccups.

There were none.

At 2:30 sharp, before a brief introduction, he took the podium and spoke with a passion in thanking fans for their unrelenting support over his 17-year coaching tenure at Alabama, one that resulted in an incredible six national championships and nine SEC titles. A few hours later, he did the same thing from the field at halftime, with the words "Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium" emblazoned in crimson lettering on the facade of the west upper deck. Flanked by family, he was exactly where he wanted to be, speaking to the fans he wanted to see, before settling in for the game he really wanted to watch.

Texas-Michigan? I doubt he even stayed for the kickoff.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban wasn't going to miss field dedication at Bryant-Denny, no matter what