Nick Saban breaks down how 12-team CFP field will change intensity of SEC Championship

Next college football season will come with a lot of new changes, highlighted by conference realignment and the expansion of the College Football Playoff field from four teams to 12.

These changes come with excitement about the future and nostalgia regarding the past as the college football community attempts to forecast how these changes will impact the game. With that in mind, Alabama head coach Nick Saban spoke about the 12-team playoff following the Crimson Tide’s SEC Champion win over the weekend. Asked how he feels the title game will be impacted by the expansion of the CFP.

“Yeah, I’ve been through a few of these eras where we didn’t have a national championship game, where two teams played, now four teams play, now 12 teams are going to play. But I think when we have 12 teams, you all still will make a case for 12 more. That’s kind of your job,” Saban smiled and said.

Saban has seen a lot in his 20+ years coaching in the SEC, but this past Saturday marked the end of an era for the SEC with Oklahoma and Texas joining the conference in 2024 and the conference getting rid of divisions.

Starting next season the SEC’s two top teams won’t just be competing for an SEC title in early December, but they’ll be playing for College Football Playoff seeding, with the nation’s four top teams receiving a first-round bye in the expanded playoff field.

There’s no question that the expanded CFP will add a new dimension to all conference championships in the future, but Saban believes that some things will never change.

“Just like the basketball tournament. I mean, how many teams they put in, 68?” Saban asked. “Then you have a two-hour show on who else should have got in or who got in that shouldn’t. That’s always going to be. That’s part of it. That’s what you do to create interest, which I appreciate.”

The future is fun to talk about, but so is the present for the Crimson Tide who took home their ninth SEC title under Saban last Saturday, with him giving some recognition to his quarterback Jalen Milroe for his heroics, particularly in two key moments of the game.

“There’s one other thing I want to mention I appreciate. We had two hellacious drives in this game, all right, that this guy [Milroe] contributed to, and some receivers made some great catches, too,” Saban said. “Right before the half, scoring right before the half, when they got 20-17, which you already mentioned, that was a great drive, a necessary drive no doubt, but a great drive. A lot of plays made in those two drives.”

Milroe manned three touchdown-scoring drives that helped the Crimson Tide punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff. And Crimson Tide fans are hoping he can do the same in Alabama’s CFP Semifinal game at the Rose Bowl versus Michigan, which kicks off at 5:00 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day and represents the final year of the four-team playoff field.