Nick Saban on getting final College Football Playoff spot over Florida State: 'I really think our team earned the right to be here'

Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off an upset in the SEC Championship Game, beating Georgia. With that, there was more than a little debate about who deserved the final two spots in the College Football Playoff this season.

In the end, Alabama got into the College Football Playoff ahead of Florida State. It was a controversial decision, but one that Saban feels that his team earned throughout this season.

“It was a tough night,” Nick Saban said on the College Football Playoff Selection Show. “I didn’t sleep a lot because there’s a lot of good teams out there. Florida State is certainly a good team and to go undefeated in their league and, it’s unfortunate that some good team had to get left out, but I really think that our team earned the right to be here.”

Unlike Florida State, Alabama lost a game this season. That was to Texas, another Playoff team. However, the Crimson Tide also had the best win in the country against Georgia and continued to improve throughout the season.

“Beat number one Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, they’ve worked hard all year to improve, and I’m really proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish together as a team,” Saban concluded.

Immediately following the initial announcement of the College Football Playoff rankings, Kirk Herbstreit reacted to Alabama being in ahead of Florida State. He emphasized just how different of a team the Seminoles are without Jordan Travis and how improved Alabama has been this season.

“You have to look at the last couple games without the heart and soul. This guy is the face of this resurgence of Florida State, Jordan Travis, and to take him out is just as big as any player in the country that you would take off that roster. So, to me, it’s a reflection of what he meant to that team specifically and these last two weeks giving Tate [Rodemaker] and Brock [Glenn] the third string guy an opportunity, and it’s just a reality,” Herbstreit said.

“You’re comparing Alabama to Florida State. You’ve got to give Alabama the nod, even though they had a close game against Auburn in a rivalry game. They beat Georgia in a neutral site and Georgia was the team, and Alabama just beat them. You can not take Alabama out of this. They have to be in, and I think the committee did a great job.”

Tyler Booker says Alabama is the standard

After beating Georgia, Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker made it clear that Alabama is still the standard in college football.

“We block out all external factors. But we just knew we had to make our statement today, especially when you’ve got guys like David Pollack saying that the standard is Georgia. The standard can only be imitated, not replicated. There’s only one Alabama and there’s always going to be one Alabama,” Booker said.

“The message was, ‘We are the standard.’ You know what I mean? There would be no Georgia without Alabama. We are the standard. We proved that today. Might’ve had a slow two years but the standard is here. We are the standard. Block out what everybody else says, David Pollack, we are the standard.”