During his storied coaching career, Nick Saban rarely shied away from the opportunity to express his thoughts on subjects related to college football.
During a recent appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the seven-time national championship-winning coach talked about some of the potential drawbacks of the new 12-team College Football Playoff format.
In the expanded playoffs, the top five conference champions would automatically receive a postseason bid. The top four conference champions will receive first-round byes. Saban suggested the concept could have unintended consequences.
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Nick Saban sits during ESPN College GameDay prior to the NCAA football game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, November 2, 2024 in University Park, Pennsylvania. .
“Giving a conference champion a bye when they're not the highest-ranked team…what it really affects is the path to a championship,” he argued.
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“And we have to seed teams based on the quality of their performance over the season…” he continued. “Technically speaking, the No. 1 seed should have the easiest path to the championship, but giving the conference champion seeding to the top four when they are not among the top four teams actually That won’t happen.”
September 7, 2024. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Nick Saban leaves the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which was renamed in his honor, during halftime of Alabama's 42-16 victory over South Florida. (Gary Cosby Jr. – USA TODAY Network (via Imagn Images))
There were several upsets in college football games last week. Alabama lost to Oklahoma, Florida defeated Ole Miss, and Auburn defeated Texas A&M. Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M will all enter the final week of the regular season with three losses.
Saban objected to teams that lose three games being rewarded with a playoff berth.
“At the end of the day, I think it's hard to reward a team like we are now with three losses,” Saban said. “Especially in a loss like Ole Miss had, a loss like Alabama, I'd call them a .500 team. A pretty average team. They probably don't play in the same conference. There are some teams that could have been better, but they weren't.'' They also don't lose to average teams. ”
University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks during the NCAA College Football Southeastern Conference Media Day in Atlanta, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
From Saban's perspective, the Georgia Bulldogs are the only potential three-loss team that should seriously consider the playoffs. Georgia State enters the annual in-state rivalry showdown on November 29th against Georgia Tech with two losses.
The Bulldogs are then scheduled to play the winner of this weekend's game between Texas and Texas A&M in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Saban doesn't think Georgia should be eliminated from playoff contention if it loses that game.
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“If Georgia State is actually going to be in the SEC Championship Game, they shouldn't be penalized if they lose the game,” Saban said. “They're going to finish with three losses. I don't think any team that didn't make it to the championship game with two losses should be in it, especially if they played a good game and it wasn't a blowout loss.”
Oregon remains at the top of the list in the latest playoff rankings, with Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Notre Dame rounding out the top five.
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