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There's a reason Nick Saban, unprovoked, announced after Alabama's spring game that he was having hip-replacement surgery.

It wasn't because he was feeling chummy with the media and felt like they deserved a scoop on his private life.

There's a reason that Saban and Alabama, a year ago, came up with a "Shop Talk" web video series in which Saban sits down in a staged barbershop setting to catch up with former players and talk about the good old days.

It wasn't because Saban just wanted some leisure time during his workday to have a few laughs with players who are now in the NFL.

If you accept the fact that Saban is one of the top recruiters in college football, then you have to accept the fact that Saban understands the importance of perception to recruiting.

And then it doesn't become a great leap to conclude that Saban and the Alabama machine are devoting considerable effort to fighting the perceptional advantage that Clemson and Dabo Swinney are enjoying on the recruiting trail.

The events of this week have only amplified the presence of Swinney and Clemson as a saturating sensation.

After victories, Swinney celebrates like a kid with his players in the locker room.