Nick Saban is no longer the head coach of the Alabama football team, but he has still been very involved with SEC Media Days this week. Saban has a new gig with ESPN covering college football now, so he has been at SEC Media Days because of that. On Wednesday, the former Crimson Tide head coach talked about the new College Football Playoff format, and he shared some concerns that he has.
Big changes are being made to the College Football Playoff this season as it is expanding from four teams to 12. That is quite the jump, and one that a lot of people didn't see coming. There are also now automatic bids into the playoff for power conference winners, and for the highest ranked group of five team. That is where the problems arise for former Alabama football coach Nick Saban.
“The downside of the [new format] is I just wish we could put the 12 best teams in the playoffs,” Saban said during SEC Media Days on ESPN's College Football Live. “Not worry about conference champions and all that kind of stuff. 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.”
That is a fair concern, and we are definitely going to run into an instance where a team gets left out that is clearly better than one of the conference winners that gets an automatic bid. The Big Ten and SEC are loaded with the best teams in college football, but then there's the Big 12 and ACC that will take two spots no matter what. Not to mention the automatic bid for a group of five school. There are years where there really isn't a very good group of five school, and last season is a perfect example. Liberty was the highest ranked group of five school at #23. They would've been in with this format. Saban's concern is one that a lot of people have.
New College Football Playoff rules
So, we know how the College Football Playoff committee will get their 12 teams: Four automatic bids from power conference winners (Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12) and the highest ranked group of five school (doesn't matter what their ranking is). Then, the rest of the bids will be at-large.
The top four teams will get a bye into the second round of the CFP, and the first round will feature teams ranked 5-12. Those games will be hosted by the higher-ranked team.
Then, the second round will once again feature eight teams, and they will be played at New Year's Six (Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl) bowl games on a rotating basis. Four will be used for the second round games, and then once we move into the semifinals, the other two will be used for those two games. Then, the last two teams standing will battle it out in the national title game.
Nick Saban noted that he didn't have any other issues with the new format besides the automatic bid. It is certainly fair to want to see the best 12 teams get in no matter what.
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