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Nick Saban criticizes Bama fans

Alabama suspended the block seating privileges of 20 student organizations on Friday, a day after coach Nick Saban criticized fans for leaving early during games.

Saban commented on his radio show Thursday about fans leaving early during the Tide's blowout wins.

"My sense of it is, I always say the fans are a part of the team," Saban said, according to the Anniston Star. "Everybody else should have the same sort of commitment. You don't have to do the work all week, you don't have to practice, you don't have to come in at 7 in the morning and leave at 11 at night, you don't have to do any of that stuff.

"All you have to do is come to the game, drink beer, do whatever you want, party in the parking lot. I've never been at a tailgate in my life. All I'm asking is that you just come and have fun and stay for the whole game."

The block seating usually reserved for fraternities and other groups will be dissolved for Saturday's game against Tennessee, and any student will be allowed to sit anywhere in the student section.

The university's guidelines for the block seating lists "excessive tardiness or early departure from the stadium" as "unacceptable behavior," according to the Birmingham News.

The handbook also says an organization's second offense would result in the loss of block seating for the rest of the seasons, and organizations would be banned from sitting together after a third offense, the News reported.

The school did not reveal the names of the suspended organizations.