Nick Saban is turning heads with his 12-team Playoff prediction in 2024
Nick Saban debuted on "College GameDay" this Saturday. The show moved across the pond to Dublin, Ireland, to cover the game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. For the third straight season, the college football season starts at Aviva Stadium for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
One of the highlights of this edition of the show was Saban making his 12-team playoff prediction. There weren't big surprises in it, except for one. The veteran coach, turned analyst didn't pick the reigning national champions: The Michigan Wolverines.
However, no one on the team except for Kirk Herbstreit believes the Wolverines will make much of this season. Michigan lost coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, and key pieces such as quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum left as well. They're in the hands of a green coach in Sherrone Moore.
Other interesting picks by the coach were Utah making it as a top-four team, and he relegated his old Alabama team to the No. 7 seed. Saban also left Missouri and Clemson just barely out of the playoffs, as the first and second teams out, respectively. Georgia, Ohio State and Florida State are his first, second and third, seeds respectively.
Nick Saban's picks for Power Four conference champions
Later in the show, the coach picked his conference champions for the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC. There were no surprises, as he chose Florida State, Utah, Ohio State and Georgia to win them, respectively. He admitted that the Oregon Ducks will give some fight to the Buckeyes in their new league, but he expects Ryan Day's men to prevail. In the SEC, he argued that Texas and his old Alabama have a shot at winning it, but that the Bulldogs are still the team to beat.
He's so sure of the Georgia Bulldogs that he chose Kirby Smart's team as the 2024 national champions. Interestingly, he named the Oregon Ducks as their opponents in the championship game (and he didn't pick Oregon as a conference champion), although he hesitated to do so.
In any case, it is way too early to make this kind of prediction. Especially since this might be the most unpredictable college football season in history, given the new playoff format.