Legendary coach Nick Saban highlights potential issue with new College Football Playoff format

During his storied coaching career, Nick Saban seldom shied distant from an accidental to explicit his thoughts astir a taxable related to assemblage football.

During his latest quality connected the "Pat McAfee Show," the seven-time nationalist title winning manager discussed immoderate of the imaginable drawbacks of the caller 12-team College Football Playoff format. 

Under the expanded playoff, the 5 highest-ranked league champions volition person an automatic postseason bid. The 4 highest-ranked league champions volition beryllium granted a bye for the archetypal round. Saban suggested that the conception could effect successful immoderate unintended consequences.

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Nick Saban sits connected the ESPN College Gameday acceptable anterior to the NCAA shot crippled betwixt the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes astatine Beaver Stadium successful University Park, Pa. connected Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.

"By giving the league champions, erstwhile they're not the highest-ranked teams, the bye... what it truly affects is the way to the championship," helium argued.

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"And erstwhile you don't effect the teams based connected the prime of the full play performance..." helium continued. "The fig 1 effect should have, technically, the easiest way to the title and that doesn't truly hap erstwhile you let league champions to get seeded successful the top-four erstwhile they're not 1 of the top-four teams."

Sep 7, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Nick Saban walks disconnected the tract aft it was renamed successful his grant astatine Bryant-Denny Stadium during halftime of Alabama’s triumph implicit South Florida 42-16.  (Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)

Last week's slate of assemblage shot games featured respective upsets. Alabama lost to Oklahoma, Florida upset Ole Miss, and Auburn knocked disconnected Texas A&M. Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M volition each participate the last week of the regular play with 3 losses. 

Saban argued against three-loss teams being rewarded by making it to the playoff. 

"I bash deliberation arsenic we boil down to this, similar close now, hard to reward a squad with 3 losses," Saban said. "Especially the benignant of losses Ole Miss had and similar Alabama’s had to beauteous .500 teams I privation to telephone them. Pretty mean teams. You’ve got immoderate different teams that possibly they didn’t play the aforesaid competition, but they didn’t suffer games to mean teams either."

Alabama caput manager Nick Saban speaks during NCAA assemblage shot Southeastern Conference Media Days Tuesday, July 19, 2022, successful Atlanta.  (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

From Saban's constituent of view, the Georgia Bulldogs are the lone imaginable three-loss squad that should beryllium successful enactment for superior playoff consideration. Georgia enters their yearly in-state rivalry showdown with Georgia Tech connected Nov. 29 with 2 losses.

The Bulldogs are past scheduled to play the victor of this weekend's Texas-Texas A&M crippled successful the SEC Championship crippled successful Atlanta. If Georgia drops that game, Saban does not judge they should beryllium eliminated from playoff contention.

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"If Georgia really plays successful the SEC Championship Game, they truly shouldn’t beryllium penalized if they should hap to suffer the game," Saban said. "They would extremity up with 3 losses. I don’t deliberation a squad that didn’t play successful the title crippled that has 2 losses should get in, particularly if they played a bully crippled and it wasn’t a blowout."

Oregon remained in the apical spot successful the latest playoff rankings, with Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and Notre Dame rounding retired the top-5.

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