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Nick Saban joined the Pat McAfee Show for his weekly appearance on Friday afternoon.
With College GameDay originating from Columbus, Ohio, this week for a top-5 showdown between Ohio State and Indiana, there’s been plenty of talk about how to balance how many teams get into the College Football Playoff from each conference.
The SEC and Big Ten each currently have 4 teams in the projected bracket, per the latest College Football Playoff rankings. However, that could change depending on what happens this weekend in Columbus.
As for parsing the differences between the SEC and the Big Ten overall, Saban said he believes he has the answer: depth.
“The top teams in the Big Ten are just as good as the top teams in the SEC,” Saban said. “But the SEC is so much deeper. There’s 8 or 9 teams that have been in the top 25 this year and they’re all playing each other and they’re beating each other.
“So you’ve got a 2-loss team like Georgia that has played like 5 top-25 teams and they have 2 losses. That’s a little different than playing no top-25 teams or not beating any top-25 teams.”
Here’s video of Saban’s comments:
"The top teams in the Big Ten are just as good as the top teams in the SEC but the SEC is so much deeper..
You've got a 2 loss Georgia team that has played 5 top 25 teams" ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/fkPBnllJAG
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 22, 2024
In the most recent CFP rankings, the SEC had 8 teams ranked in the top-25 compared to 5 from the Big Ten.
The next College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night following Week 13 action.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
