Nick Saban changes his view of expanded College Football Playoff, explains why

When Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks, people listen to what he has to say. A living legend, few people have as much sway as he does. Now, he’s publicly changed his stance on expanding the College Football Playoff, embracing the 12-team model.

Nick Saban explained his position on Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show.

“I was never a guy that was for expanding the playoffs in years past,” Nick Saban said. “Because I was the first to say when we started the playoffs that the playoffs and bowl games would not coexist.”

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“And, being an old traditionalist, I thought bowl games were one of the most significant, enjoyable things for lots of college players, lots of college fans because it was different than everything else. You know, you didn’t have to win the championship, whether it’s in high school or the NFL, to be able to enjoy yourself and be rewarded for having a good season. So, I always sort of, wanted to protect the bowl games,” Nick Saban explained.

However, for old traditionalists like Nick Saban, the College Football Playoff changed everything. Fans and media view the postseason differently now, and as a result, so do the players.

“Well, now that we have playoffs, nobody talks about anything except the playoffs. So, we have a four-team playoff. Nobody gives a hoot about any bowl games anywhere. Nobody talks about them. All anybody talks about is who’s getting into the playoffs and where they’re playing and all that.”

“So, I’m actually for expanding the playoffs,” Nick Saban continued. “I don’t even think players. You know, going to the Sugar Bowl. When I was at LSU, we went to the Sugar Bowl the second or third year I was there. I forget which one, alright. And it was like the biggest thing that ever happened in your life–to be able to go to the Sugar Bowl. Now, we got players that opt out of playing in the Sugar Bowl. This is just in the last 15 years. Because they’re not playoffs.”

“So, if that’s the case, I’m for having a 12-team playoff, as long as we don’t make the players play too many games. So, you’d end up with eight teams, some teams have a bye week and some teams not, so the top four would have a bye week. The rest of the eight teams would play. And you’d end up with eight, then you’d go through and have the playoffs.”

Nick Saban also wanted to point out that extending the amount of games being played could be dangerous, or at the very least non-beneficial to the players.

“We’ve had several teams here play 15 games–that’s a lot of games to play. So, if you keep championship games like the SEC Championship Game, and all that, and then make players play all these playoff games, that’s probably not gonna be good.”

“But, I also use the bowl games to play these games. You know, so that all the games that would be played would actually be bowl affiliations, so you would keep the whole bowl system alive.”

Most importantly, from Nick Saban’s point of view at least, is maintaining parity in the sport. If there are currently only a few teams being talked about, fans might walk away. Expansion could make it so many more teams and therefore fans have access.

“And there would be if we think like right now when they’re doing the ESPN thing all of November like who’s getting in the playoffs, and everybody’s interested in 10 teams, if we had 12 teams gonna get in the playoffs you’d have 50 teams that they’d be talking about who have a chance to get in the playoffs. So, the more parity that you have, the more competitive balance in any league, the more fan interest, and all those things that are good for the game. That’s why they have a salary cap in the NFL…so, I think the more we can create that in college football is probably a good thing.”