Nick Saban compares Alabama snub to TCU making 2022 College Football Playoff

The first 12-team College Football Playoff field is set and with that have come a bevy of opinions on how the selection committee ultimately decided to rank those teams. In particular, there was some debate about the decision to put SMU in the field over Alabama.

Former Alabama head coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban spoke on the College Football Playoff Selection Show following the final rankings. There, he shared his thoughts on the situation, seemingly comparing the snub to the 2022 snub, when TCU made it into the four-team Playoff.

“What I’d like to say to everyone is we all watched these games yesterday,” Nick Saban said. “We watched the SEC game. We watched the Big Ten game. We watched Arizona State. I think the biggest difference in some of these teams is not skill players. Skill players — everybody’s got skill players. But how do you match up in the interior of the offensive line and defensive line? Because those are the people who can punish the skill players and win the line of scrimmage. So, I think, as you look at this Playoff, the teams that match up better up front are going to have the best chance to be successful.”

TCU had an unbeaten regular season in 2022 but lost the Big 12 Championship Game. That led to some debate between the Horned Frogs and the Crimson Tide, with TCU ultimately getting the nod over an Alabama team that lost two close games in the regular season.

“I hate to bring this up, but the last time we put a team in, and I’m not comparing this to SMU or anybody else, I got on TV and said, ‘Hey, look. We lost two plays on the last play of the game. Somebody else was 12-1 and lost to Kansas State.’ And we beat Kansas State by 25 or 28 points and we would’ve been favored by that last team by 13 points that got in, but we didn’t get in and they got in. Then, the outcome was not — because the other team was so much more physical than them,” Saban said.

“No disrespect to them. They had a great season, but I’m saying that kind of physical play is going to be what dominates this Playoff regardless of how they ranked them, put them in order, who’s playing who, five is playing 12, easy path to get to the end. The teams that are the most physical in the trenches are going to have the best chance to win this tournament.”

TCU would win its first round Playoff matchup against Michigan by a score of 51-45. However, Georgia ended up being dominant in their win for a national championship, beating the Horned Frogs 65-7, and as Saban pointed out the physicality was a major reason for that result.