Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch
The first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff begins this weekend with four first-round games, including two involving double-digit point spreads.
While Oklahoma vs. Alabama and Texas A&M vs. Miami are both highly anticipated, Ole Miss enters as a 17.5-point favorite against Tulane, which it beat 45-10 earlier this season, and Oregon is listed as a 21.5-point favorite over Sun Belt champion James Madison.
Both the Green Wave and the Dukes qualified automatically as champions of their respective conferences. But former Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban says they don’t belong.
Nick Saban Calls Out College Football Playoff Format
Saban appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and made it clear that he believes that James Madison doesn’t belong in the playoff.
“Would we allow the winner of the Triple-A baseball league — the International League, I don’t even know the name of it — would you let them in the World Series?” Saban posited. “That’s the equivalent of what we do when JMU gets in the Playoff, and Notre Dame doesn’t.”
How would Saban fix the problem? Well, he advocated for a separate playoff for Group of 5 teams.
“These guys ought to have their own playoff. … Just give them the money. Each school gets $4 million for playing the first round. Just give them $4 million and put Notre Dame in. Want to see Notre Dame and Oregon play? Hell yeah,” Saban added.
Can James Madison actually compete with Oregon? The oddsmakers sure don’t believe so. And neither do most college football analysts or statistical models. But games aren’t played on paper, and college football has certainly seen plenty of crazy upsets in the past.
Heck, even Saban’s mighty Alabama Crimson Tide lost to Utah, who was in the Mountain West Conference at the time, in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
Maybe the Dukes get blown out. In fact, it’s probably likely. But everyone knew the rules going in. And if Notre Dame wanted a spot in the playoff, it should have either joined a conference or played better to start the season.