There has arguably been no bigger star at SEC Media Days this week than Nick Saban .
What has always been still is for the former Alabama coach, who appeared in Dallas this week in his new role as an ESPN analyst . Multiple current coaches made sure to praise Saban in their comments to reporters, and it was Saban generating many of the biggest headlines.
It was Saban creating a stir when he forgot his media credential on day one . It was Saban raising eyebrows by picking Georgia and Texas – and not Alabama – to make the SEC championship game this season. It was Saban, however, declaring that Texas is "not going to run the SEC," like perhaps it was perceived when the Longhorns were in the Big 12.
And, as the 2024 version of SEC Media Days reach their conclusion Thursday, it's Saban offering a definitive stance on what should be changed about the expanded College Football Playoff selection process. If it were up to him, conference champions wouldn't be guaranteed a spot in the 12-team format set to debut this season.
"The downside ... is I just wish we could put the 12 best teams in the playoffs, not worry about conference champions and all that kind of stuff," Saban said Wednesday on ESPN's College Football Live . "If you do get beat in the conference championship game and you're one of the best teams, you should still get in there because you played really quality opponents and you played good football. That's my only concern about it. I just want to see the best 12 teams in it, and I think most people want to see the best 12 teams in it."
Saban said something similar Monday on ESPN's Get Up with Mike Greenberg , noting that "I got a little different theory on that" when asked how the SEC and Big Ten might be affected by the format change.
"The people really want to see the 12 best teams, just like the people wanted to see the four best teams get in the playoffs," said Saban, who retired after 17 seasons as Alabama's football coach in January. "We talk about conference championships, but the conferences are not equal, so that makes it very difficult. So somebody is going to get bumped out. Maybe the 11th or 12th team is going to get bumped out because of a conference champion who may not even be in the top 12. So there's still a little bit of inconsistency there and how do we get the 12 best teams in the playoff."
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This is a change, historically, from Saban's stance on college football's postseason. There was a time when he opposed expanding the playoff to four teams because of the importance of bowl games. But he altered his thinking in recent years when players began to opt out of non-playoff bowl games.
As he noted Monday, whereas the four-team format usually featured seven or eight teams with a realistic chance to make the playoff by the end of November, this year that figure could be as many as 25 teams because of the expanded field.
The SEC seems to already be preparing for that reality, and the jockeying for position that will come along with it. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, for instance, used Georgia's omission from last year's College Football Playoff to take a dig at Florida State and UCF during a radio interview with AM 1010 XL in Jacksonville, Florida .
"Georgia was one of the best four teams and didn't get in," Sankey said, "but you didn't see us jumping up and down and complaining and hanging national championship banners."
Saban, meanwhile, brought up the example of 2022, when Alabama missed the College Football Playoff.
"I still have a little pet peeve about we didn't get in and TCU did," he said on SEC Network Wednesday night . "And Kansas State beat them, and we beat Kansas State by 25 or 30 points in the bowl game. Who had the better team?"
It's these revealing comments from Saban, still salty two years later, that will ensure he remains among the most compelling figures in the SEC even in retirement.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: SEC Media Days: Nick Saban would change College Football Playoff selection process
