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Fans Blast Nick Saban’s Take On The College Football Playoff Selection Process

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Nick Saban reacts to a play from the sidelines.

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Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is going viral for comments made about the most recent College Football Playoff selection process. He questions whether the top teams actually got a chance to compete for a national title.

Of course, he includes his own team as one of those perceived programs that should’ve been included in the playoff field. Unfortunately, the Tide were left out following a pair of close losses.

Alabama fell on the final play of the game in both of its defeats, losing by a combined four points. First, an exciting matchup with Tennessee saw the Vols kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

That resulted in the home crowd storming the field, tearing out the goalposts, and depositing them in the Tennessee river.

Saban and Co. suffered their second loss at the hands of rival LSU, who won on a two-point conversion in overtime. That win was key in securing the Tigers’ spot in the SEC Championship Game.

It also essentially knocked the Tide out of the College Football Playoff.

On Monday, Nick Saban joined the Joel Klatt Show to talk about the season, giving his thoughts on the selection process. Here’s what he had to say.

“Do you really get the best teams?” the head coach asked. “When they told me we would be favored against three of the four teams that got in the playoff, I’m like ‘Well, why aren’t we in the playoff?’”

Saban believes that despite those close losses, his team’s talent and resume outweighed that of TCU, Ohio State, or Michigan. He noted the recent dominance of the SEC, saying Alabama likely played stronger competition than those other title contenders.

“In the SEC… there’s going to be more parity because you’re going to have six, seven teams ranked in the top 20 that are going to be playing each other.”

While the line of thinking is reasonable, particularly considering how and to whom Alabama lost those two games, results on the field do matter. No playoff team had more than one loss, with UGA and Michigan going undefeated.

TCU lost its conference championship game after running off an undefeated regular season while the Buckeyes’ lone loss came against the Wolverines.

Fans were quick to react to the comments. Many blasted Nick Saban.

One fan noted that Alabama was favored against Tennessee and LSU, too, saying, “You were favored against the teams you lost to.” Being a favorite doesn’t guarantee a win.

Another follower said, “Vegas sends out favorites at the beginning of each season. If we went by that, the season would be over before it started.”

While they missed out on the playoff last year, the Crimson Tide will undoubtedly be in contention for a national championship in 2023-24. Nick Saban will hope to knock the Georgia Bulldogs from their pedestal following back-to-back titles.