Saturday could be a College Football Playoff elimination game for Alabama football.
With losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee , the No. 15 Crimson Tide take on No. 17 Missouri without seemingly much wiggle room for taking one of 12 spots in the expanded CFP. On ESPN's "College GameDay" Saturday before Alabama vs Missouri , former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban praised current Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer's "takes no talent" approach.
"All these things that have been going wrong really are not talent oriented," Saban said. "They are mental errors of snap count, all these different things. I think the number one thing Alabama has to do is not worry about winning. They have to worry about getting back and playing to a standard. Because I think if they play to a standard with the talent they have, they will be able to come out on top."
Saban is a part of the standard. At Alabama, Saban won six national championships and nine SEC championships in 17 seasons. And that's a pressure Saban recognizes that remains in Tuscaloosa.
"There's so much pressure at Alabama to win every game," Saban said. "Sometimes that affects the players. They get anxious, they are worried about outcomes instead of worrying about what's in front of them, playing one play at a time."
According to ESPN, Alabama has a 45% chance of making the CFP before Saturday's meeting against Missouri. The Crimson Tide's chances grow to 52% with a win and with upcoming meetings against LSU , Mercer, Oklahoma and Auburn ahead. With a loss to Missouri, Alabama's chances at a CFP decrease to 9%.
Alabama takes on Missouri at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium on ABC.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Nick Saban thinks Alabama football's No. 1 focus should be
