Saturday night, while pretty much minding my own business, my cell phone vibrated with a text message.

Let me make this perfectly clear: I’m not a text message type person, but this one was from a friend of many years.

I won’t reveal her name so her husband and children won’t know what she was up to, but if I were going to, it would sound a lot like Ellen Kreth, the former reporter turned lawyer turned stay-at-home mom.

The message was three words with a picture.

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Roll Tide Roll.

The picture was of Alabama Coach Nick Saban.

Alabama was in the process of rolling over Auburn 36-0, and although it had been years since I had sensed Kreth’s pride in her alma mater, it probably had a lot to do with the opponent.

After responding to her with “Gator Bait,” the messages stopped until Monday, when she sent another picture, this one of the scoreboard that not only showed the final score but a shot of Tommy Tuberville walking off with his head down.

Kreth, whose family owns a small newspaper in Arkansas, has every right to be proud.

Undefeated Alabama is ranked No. 1 in the nation. It has an average winning margin of 21 points per game because seven times this season the defense held the opponent to one touchdown or less. The defense has allowed an average of only 248. 5 yards per game, and six of its opponents were or are ranked in The Associated Press’ Top 25. Yet, no No. 1 team has ever had more reason to use the old “we get no respect” cry than the Tide.

1 Florida is a 9 / 2-point favorite, and most media types have the Gators penciled in to the BCS championship game. In fact, most seem to believe it is a foregone conclusion that the Gators will play Oklahoma on Jan. 8 in Miami, Fla., for the biggest No. 1 of all.

The Gators beat every common opponent by more than the Tide did, except for Arkansas and Ole Miss, which outplayed Florida well enough early to hold on for a 31-30 victory.

That’s the only blemish on the Gators’ record. There are none on the Tide’s record.

Florida is good. Very good.

It has outscored its opponents by an average of 34 points because it has a very balanced offense that is led by Tim Tebow, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner.

The Gators average 237 yards per game rushing and 212 yards passing.

Alabama’s averages aren’t that impressive, but there is balance as they average 201 on the ground and © in the air.

Obviously, Florida has the better quarterback, but John Parker Wilson hasn’t done anything to cost Alabama a game.

The Gators seem to be peaking at the right time, having won their past three games by a combined score of 171-40. And they have held seven opponents to just one touchdown or less, although they have no shutouts while the Tide have two.

The point spread seems very high to a guy who saw these teams early in the season and came away believing Alabama would be better than everyone expected and that Florida would be good.

The Gators were preseason favorites to win the SEC Eastern Division, but the Tide were picked third behind LSU and Auburn.

Both have a strong history in the SEC Championship Game, and the first three featured the Tide and the Gators. They have met five times in the championship game, and Florida holds a 4-1 edge over Alabama and a 7-0 record overall.

Alabama is 2-3 overall.

Yet, if this game is a history lesson, it could be the old adage that defense wins championships.

If Alabama gets ahead, I’ll probably get texts and maybe more pictures.

I’ll forgive Kreth, because she’s more than an Alabama fan. She’s a real-life hero and role model.

She is a cancer survivor and will be the chairman for the 2009 Race for the Cure in her home state of Arkansas, and she’ll be better at it than Nick Saban ever dreamed of being at coaching.