Nick Saban again speaks out on Alabama missing College Football Playoff

Alabama just missed out on the College Football Playoff last season and Nick Saban once again spoke about not getting another national title opportunity.

The Crimson Tide finished No. 5, just on the outside of the four-team playoff. However, there were some pundits and fans that claimed Alabama was better than three of the four teams ahead.

Saban spoke to Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt about Alabama missing out on the playoff, asking if there’s a better way to determine the best teams, especially if everyone wants parity.

“So but the problem with the way the whole system is, there’s no accounting for that, right,” Saban said. “So, all we do is take the teams that win the most games at the end of the year, put them in the playoffs. But do you really get the best teams? When they told me that we would be favored against three out of the four teams that got in the playoff, I’m like, why aren’t we in the playoffs?”

That’s where Saban questioned if the teams in front of Alabama last season were better. The four teams were Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State.

“Does that mean they have a better team,” Saban said. “Or does it mean that those people don’t know what they’re talking about? I really don’t know that. But I’m not being critical of anybody. But if you’re going to have parity, you have to have a better way of figuring out who has the best teams, not just because you lose two games on the last play of the game.

“That knocks you out when you may be better than somebody else who didn’t have the same circumstances that they had played.”

Many criticized TCU’s schedule last year, despite beating ranked opponents within the Big 12. Some even thought the Horned Frogs should miss out on the playoffs after losing the Big 12 title game.

If those two teams flip flop, Saban and Alabama are either No. 3 or 4 in last year’s rankings, depending upon what to do with Ohio State.

To Saban’s point, Alabama lost two games by a combined four points, both on the final play. A field goal against Tennessee and losing in overtime to LSU.

Ohio State had just one loss and also didn’t play in the conference championship game like Alabama. However, the Buckeyes were blown out at home by rival Michigan, the eventual Big Ten champions and No. 2 seed.

So where does the argument go? None of those three teams won a conference title but only Alabama had two losses.

What Saban and Alabama might also miss is that the Crimson Tide were ranked ahead of the Volunteers, despite losing to them. Tennessee ended up losing two games, lost starting quarterback Hendon Hooker and one loss was a blowout to South Carolina.

Did Saban and Alabama have an argument last year? Sure. Does it matter now? No.

All in all, this might be a moot point once the 12-team playoff goes into effect.