Paul Finebaum remains college football's hot-take king and the SEC Network's orator in chief.

Nick Saban, though, gingerly approached the hot-take throne while stealing the show at SEC Media Days as an analyst.

Saban, throughout his coaching career, embraced the media’s pontifications to motivate his team.

If talking heads doubted Alabama, he served that skepticism as fuel to his team. If the media praised the Tide, he warned his players that those sweet nothings were nothing but a trap — rat poison! — stealthily laid.

Now, Saban sets the traps and serves the sound bites.

Perhaps it’s fitting he seized the spotlight this week in Dallas. It’s SEC media days, after all, not SEC coaches’ days.

Rarely, though, does a media member command this much attention. Of course, Saban is no normal media member — although he did get served humble pie Monday, when he had to return to his hotel room to retrieve his credential to gain access to the event.

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Just wait ‘til the GOAT tries to navigate a dizzying maze of sawhorses and police officers to reach a far-flung media parking garage on game day. Good luck, good sir. The journey to a media garage is not for the faint of heart.

As another media days sunsets, let’s review some of Saban’s on-camera takes in Dallas and how they hold up.

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SEC Championship Game prediction

Saban’s take: He picked Georgia and Texas to meet in the SEC Championship Game. “I really like Texas. I think Georgia’s got a really good team, but I believe in our Alabama team, too. I believe in Jalen Milroe. I just think the question marks in the secondary, until those get resolved, it’s hard to sort of jump on that bandwagon.”

My take: Saban raised eyebrows by going with Georgia vs. Texas rather picking Alabama, but his rationale is logical. Georgia and Texas have the soundest rosters with the fewest question marks, although Saban did point out that Texas must address key departures off the interior of last season’s defense.

He's also fair to question Alabama’s secondary, the team's top vulnerability. Plus, as good as Kalen DeBoer’s résumé is, he’ll be making his SEC debut. Saban didn’t reach the SEC Championship Game until his second season at both LSU and Alabama.

Big season for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss

Saban’s take: “I think this is the first time Ole Miss can really match up, up front. It's always been their issue. They'll win 11 games . . . They're going to look more like an SEC team."

My take: Saban’s math is a little squishy. When he says 11 wins, is he including a postseason win? Otherwise, if Ole Miss goes 11-1 during the regular season, why wouldn’t Saban pick Ole Miss to go to the SEC Championship Game? Maybe he thinks Georgia will go 12-0 and Texas and Ole Miss will finish 11-1, and the Longhorns will earn the tiebreaker to go to Atlanta.

Math aside, Saban’s analysis of Ole Miss is spot-on. I’m bullish on the Rebels’ playoff chances because of their transfer gains along the lines of scrimmage.

Loving on LSU

Saban's take: He identified LSU as a sleeper team. "LSU is still a very good (team). Talented receiver corps. I see a young quarterback who has tremendous potential, and I see the defense getting better."

My take: I don't disagree with anything Saban said here, but someone has to lose. Saban likes Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama and LSU. That leaves the rest of the SEC to absorb the losses. I also like those five teams. In fact, those are the five SEC teams I project as playoff qualifiers. Maybe Saban's TV strategy is to parrot my columns.

Nick Saban tries to fuel Alabama

Saban’s take: “I got kind of criticized (Wednesday) by some of my former players that I didn’t pick them to be in the SEC Championship Game, but they need to understand that’s counter rat poison. I never wanted to get picked first. I always wanted to be the underdog. This was counter rat poison. I hope they understand that.”

My take: This plays weak. Surely Saban knew he would ruffle some crimson feathers by picking Georgia and Texas to the SEC Championship Game. No need to backpedal so soon. If his predictions are to be taken seriously, he can’t make it seem as if he’s a secret agent trying to motivate Alabama.

This remark makes me wonder whether Saban actually believes Georgia and Texas are the front-runners for Atlanta. Stand by your prediction — at least until Texas’ second loss. Then perform that classic media pivot and label Texas a fraud. When in doubt, study Finebaum’s slick maneuvering. Saban still has a thing or two to learn before he’ll be worthy of the hot-take crown.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, and newsletter, SEC Football Unfiltered. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Reacting to Nick Saban's hot takes from SEC Media Days