TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama coach Nick Saban and the football team are moving on. Saban has put to rest the speculation that he would replace Mack Brown at Texas by striking a new deal with Alabama. For the third-ranked Crimson Tide, the focus is on getting over the loss to Auburn and trying to finish the season strong in the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl against No. 11 Oklahoma. Saban had said Friday night after agreeing to a new contract reportedly worth about $7 million a year that he planned to retire at Alabama. He said "there were no talks" between his representatives and Texas and pointed to comments on ESPN that he "never considered going to Texas." "I think Ive already made a reaction to that," Saban said. "Dont you watch ESPN? Didnt you see what they put down across the bottom line. Thats my reaction to it. "I dont have any more reactions to it. I think its kind of over so why do we want to talk about that? We look forward. Im looking forward. I made a commitment to our players that are here and Im happy to be committed to them and I want them to make the same kind of commitment to the program and to their future success." Brown announced his resignation at Texas on Saturday. Several Texas regents and a former regent were involved in a meeting with Sabans agent last January to gauge the coachs interest in coming to Texas. Saban found the best way to quash that talk: Re-upping with the Tide. Receiver Kevin Norwood never doubted it. "I went home for the break or whatever, and everybody was basically talking about it," Norwood said. "And I was like, Coach Saban is not going anywhere. And whatever social media was saying, whatever was happening after that, I pretty much ignored it." Alabama (11-1) returned to the practice field on Tuesday for the first time since the Iron Bowl. The game was tied until Chris Davis returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown on the final play to effectively end Alabamas bid for a third straight national championship. Now, the team is gearing up for a bowl trip that would be a prize for most teams, but could be viewed as a disappointment for the Tide. "Were fired up playing Oklahoma," defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan said. "Its not for a national championship or anything, but were going to go into it like it is. "Were going to try to finish this season as strong as possible." Left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio said Saban brought up the 2008 season when the Tide fell to Florida in the SEC championship game and to Utah in the Sugar Bowl. "He was like we shouldnt let this loss bring us down to the point where we just keep hang-dogging and keep our heads down going into the game and lose that game, too," Kouandjio said. On the field, Saban said guard Anthony Steen will miss the bowl game after having shoulder surgery. Off the field, the coach had more to celebrate than even his new contract. His son, Nicholas, and daughter-in-law had a baby on Sunday. The sometimes gruff Saban lit up talking about the experience that got him to the hospital in the wee hours. "To have a healthy baby and a healthy mother and someone that beautiful come into your family is really something that you have to count your blessings on," he said. "They actually had a rocking chair over there so I was kind of happy rocking that baby a little bit. Since then, I havent been able to go back. "I kind of miss the little bugger if you want to know the truth about it." TIDE BITS: Former Southern California and Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, a onetime rival, has been visiting with Tide coaches this week in Tuscaloosa. Its a common practice for Alabama -- even Oklahomas staff has come to town -- and Saban said hes not sure why that would cause any stir. "Lane is a really good offensive coach, and Ive always had a tremendous amount of respect for him," Saban said. "Just to come in and brainstorm a little bit just some professional ideas with our guys, I think, is a real positive thing. And I dont know why theres any reaction to it. Im really quite surprised." Peyton Manning Jersey .com) - Matt Duchene picked up the deciding goal early in the third period and added an assist, as Colorado escaped with a 4-3 victory over Dallas at Pepsi Center. Andrew Luck Jersey . -- Packers cornerback Tramon Williams has been fined $26,250 for contact with an official, per NFL guidelines. http://www.officialindianapoliscoltspro.com/ .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair. Marshall Faulk Jersey . -- Brady Heslip scored a season-high 20 points to help Baylor beat No. Reggie Wayne Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. CHICAGO -- Kyle Lowry believes the Toronto Raptors are built to withstand stretches like this. Thats because theyre a little deeper. Lowry scored 16 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Toronto beat the Chicago Bulls 99-77 Saturday night. DeMar DeRozan scored 15 and Amir Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Raptors earn their second win in as many nights after dropping six of seven. "Weve got the bodies," Lowry said. "Were a deeper team." Theyre a different team, too, with Rudy Gay now in Sacramento after a seven-player trade this week. They got rid of someone who was averaging 18 points but shooting a career-low 38.8 per cent. Theyve won three of four without him, and they made it look rather easy against Chicago. "Nothing to do with Rudy personally, just the fit," coach Dwane Casey said. "Rudy is a talented player, the fit is a different thing." The Raptors led by 16 early in the third, and pulled away in the fourth after the gap dwindled to four, sending the Bulls to their 10th loss in 13 games. Luol Deng led Chicago with 17 points and Mike Dunleavy Jr. scored 14. Joakim Noah added 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Jimmy Butler scored 11. But it was another difficult night for the Bulls. They shot just 36 per cent and were 6 of 18 on 3-pointers. They were also missing Kirk Hinrich, who sat out with back stiffness. "Losing (stinks), theres no question about it," Noah said. "But it also shows true colours, whos willing to keep fighting through the adversity or whos just going to say, You know what, I want no part of this. Im just going to take bad shots and just not care at all about making winning plays, playing defence, things like that." The Raptors led 51-41 at the half after Lowry nailed a 20-foot jumper and open 3-pointer in the closing seconds, and they scored the first six of the third quarter, with the Bulls turning it over twice and missing four shots Johnsons jumper made it 57-41 three minutes into the quarter, but Bulls started too chip away.dddddddddddd Marquis Teague banked in a 3 in the closing minute of the third to make it 73-66, and D.J. Augustin hit one early in the fourth to make it a four-point game. But a jumper by DeRozan, a layup by Tyler Hansbrough and two free throws by Greivis Vasquez quickly got it back up to 79-69. It hasnt been an easy stretch for either team. The Bulls saw their championship visions get crushed when they lost Derrick Rose to another knee injury. Just about every other key player has been banged up, too. "I think a lot of it is us having guys in and out," Deng said, referring to the Bulls struggles on offence. "Were not getting as much practice time with guys." But Noah didnt want to go down that route. "No excuses," he said. "I know that were capable of a lot better than that. We cant get frustrated. Our effort has to be a lot better to play winning basketball. But its going to come." The Raptors seem to be coming together after experiencing some upheaval the past week. They acquired point guard Vasquez and forwards Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes along with financial flexibility after the season in the deal that sent Gay to Sacramento. They also waived Augustin, who was signed by Chicago. "Its gone well," Patterson said. "We want to come in with the right mentality and attitude. What we bring individually we want to incorporate in the system. I think weve done that. Moving the ball, sharing the ball, making the extra pass, averaging high assists every night, that causes everybody to have fun. No one is being selfish. "Thatll make everybody want to play tougher than before." NOTES: Casey said Augustin could fill a need for Chicago, something he was unable to do in Toronto. "We had a gluttony," he said. "Kyle Lowry was getting a lot of minutes." Signed as a free agent in July, he appeared in 10 games this year with the Raptors and averaged 2.1 points and 1.0 assists for Toronto. ... Hinrich missed his first game this season. 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