"Do you really get the best teams?": Alabama HC Nick Saban speaks out on the Crimson Tide's exclusion from the 2022 College Football Playoff
Nick Saban's Alabama team unexpectedly missed out on the 2022 college football playoffs. The Crimson Tide was ranked fifth overall last season, narrowly missing out with Georgia, Michigan, TCU, and Ohio State making it to the postseason invitational tournament.
With the 2023 college football season just a few months away, Nick Saban continues to disagree with the playoff selection process. He remains convinced that the Crimson Tide deserved a spot in the College Football Playoff during the 2022 season.
Saban expressed his dissatisfaction with the CFP Selection Committee's emphasis on the overall record rather than considering power ratings. He is of the opinion that the teams that have won the most games are not necessarily the best teams during the season.
"All we do is take the teams that win the most games at the end of the year, put them into the playoffs. But do you really get the best teams? When they told me that we would be favored against three out of the four teams that got in the playoff, I'm like, 'Why aren't we in the playoffs?'"
Nick Saban to @joelklatt about picking @CFBPlayoff teams: “All we do is take the teams that win the most games at end of the year & put them into the playoffs. But do you really get the best teams? When they told me we would be favored against 3 out of 4 teams that got in playoff… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The Crimson Tide suffered two regular-season losses, marking the first time since 2019 that they experienced such a setback. The season began with high expectations as they were ranked No. 1 in the Preseason AP Top 25, but ultimately finished with an 11-2 record.
Saban wants a better selection system for CFP
In a recent installment of "The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast," The long-term Alabama head coach joined Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt for an insightful conversation, covering various current and trending subjects in the realm of college football.
Nick Saban recently expressed his disagreement with the current selection criteria for the postseason college football playoffs on the show. Saban believes that the current system, which heavily relies on overall win metrics, did not work in favor of his team in the past.
Alabama would have likely been heavily favored and likely emerged victorious in matchups against Michigan, TCU, and Ohio State. However, when it comes to facing the eventual national champions, Georgia, Alabama would have been considered the underdog.
Rather than securing a spot in the playoffs, Alabama had to settle for a dominant victory in the Sugar Bowl, where they convincingly defeated Kansas State. Saban believes there has to be a better way of figuring out the best teams during the season.
“Does that mean they have a better team? Or does it mean that those people don’t know what they’re talking about? I really don’t know that. But I’m not being critical of anybody. But if you’re going to have parity, you have to have a better way of figuring out who has the best teams, not just because you lose two games on the last play of the game.”
I disagree with Nick Saban’s CFP take
There I said it
While win-loss records may not always accurately reflect the superiority of a college football team, incorporating tools such as Vegas odds and power ratings, along with logical reasoning, can provide valuable insights. These factors, when combined in a comprehensive analysis, can help determine the most deserving teams for the college football playoffs.
In recognition of the need for a more inclusive playoff format, starting from 2024, the college football playoffs will expand to include 12 teams instead of four. With this expansion, it becomes even more critical to employ the right metrics and selection criteria to ensure that the best teams are invited to compete for the championship.