As the debate over this year’s College Football Playoff field rages on, Alabama coach Nick Saban shared his thoughts Thursday on the critics who believe his team’s spot should’ve been awarded to Florida State.
Saban’s Crimson Tide (12–1) will enter the CFP as the No. 4 seed after essentially clinching the berth with their SEC championship upset of then top-ranked Georgia. Alabama’s selection, however, was met with widespread criticism from FSU supporters arguing the ACC champion Seminoles were snubbed despite rallying to finish the year undefeated (13-0) after losing star quarterback Jordan Travis to a gruesome leg injury on Nov. 18.
When asked to weigh in on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, Saban admitted that, while he’s proud of his program’s run, he has “compassion” for those who missed out because of the Tide’s CFP past and his belief that “a lot of teams” were worthy of consideration.
“I did the best job I could to promote what we’ve been able to accomplish in winning 11 straight games, beating the number 1 team in the country in Georgia. And we’re a different team now than we were earlier in the season,” Saban said. “Look, we’ve been on the other side of this, on the outside looking in. We’ve been the team that didn’t get in, we’ve been the fifth place team, so, we kinda know how it feels.
“I actually feel bad about it because there really are a lot of teams this year who could make an argument to say, we should be there. And I get that.”
"We've won 11 straight games & beat the number 1 team in Georgia..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 7, 2023
I'm proud of how we played in the SEC Championship & we've been on the outside looking in..
I also have compassion & feel bad for the teams that have an argument to get into the CFP & didn't" ~ Coach Saban pic.twitter.com/s8AiGapdOZ
As Saban alluded to, it wasn’t long ago that Alabama was in a similar spot to FSU and other eligible teams, having twice finished outside the top-4 (2019: No. 8, 2022: No. 5) since the CFP’s inception in 2015.
With a date against No. 1 Michigan set for Jan. 1, Saban and the Tide will have the world’s attention as they look for an upset in the program’s NCAA-best seventh appearance. And, should they fall, those same critics will likely be quick to pounce, particularly FSU and UGA fans fresh off their Orange Bowl battle on Dec. 30.
