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Nick Saban reveals reasons for greater parity in the SEC this season

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•about 8 hours•

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Saban SEC
Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

Nick Saban believes the new landscape in college football has delivered immense parity to the sport, especially inside the SEC.

Ahead of this weekend’s edition of ESPN College GameDay, Saban joined The Pat McAfee Show to discuss where the sport stands heading into Week 9. While many have claimed the SEC is cannibalizing itself week-in and week-out, Saban believes it’s good for the conference and the sport as a whole, and it’s something we have to get used to.

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“I think there’s more parity in the SEC because I think players want to come to the SEC,” Saban stated. “The system that we have now allows more players with more experience and proven quality to be able to come to the SEC. In other words, it doesn’t have to just be recruiting. Now, you take a team like Ole Miss, and I think Lane [Kiffin] has done a great job there so I’m not being critical in this, but he’s actually used the portal to his benefit, to be able to have a top notch team. Other teams use recruiting, like Georgia, you know, they still are going to recruit, Alabama is going to recruit. They’re going to use the portal some, but not as much. So that helps some of the teams that weren’t quite as good get better quickly, so that they can compete with those top level teams.

“I think the Big Ten is going to — you’re going to see some of that in the Big Ten, but I think those two conferences, because of the strength that both those conferences have, they’re going to have a little bit of an advantage in this new day and age that we’re living in.”

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As Saban relayed, perhaps the SEC is a preview of what many other conferences could become, such as the Big Ten. Teams like Indiana and Illinois have already used the transfer portal to their advantage to rise above previous expectations, similar to programs like Ole Miss and Vanderbilt in the SEC.

Instead of many games being a forgone conclusion throughout the season, it’s evident each contest will be a dogfight week-in and week-out, especially in the SEC. That just drives Nick Saban’s point home.