Nick Saban isn’t buying the idea that a few trophies automatically settle the debate over college football’s best conference.
On a recent edition of ESPN’s "Get Up," the seven-time national champion head coach and current ESPN College GameDay analyst pushed back on the notion that the Big Ten has overtaken the SEC simply because Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana have won national championships in the last three years.
"First of all, whoever wins a national championship doesn't define who has the best conference. I think the best conference gets defined by how many good teams you have from top to bottom, and I think the SEC has a lot of good teams from top to bottom," Saban said. "Last year, we had five teams in the playoff in the SEC, which says there's pretty good depth in this league."
That’s the heart of Saban’s case: depth matters more than headline wins at the top. And when you look beyond the marquee programs, the SEC’s argument gets a lot sturdier.
Arkansas and Purdue both finished 2025 at 2-10 overall, but their seasons told very different stories. The Razorbacks dropped six of their 10 games by six points or fewer, including blown chances against Ole Miss and Memphis, a failed fourth-down try on a potential tying drive against Mississippi State and a missed go-ahead field goal at LSU with five minutes left.
Purdue had its own near miss, coughing up a potential game-winning drive against Rutgers in the final minute. But its other two one-score losses, against Minnesota and Michigan, were far less competitive than most of Arkansas’ narrow defeats.
The same kind of contrast showed up when comparing how the Big Ten’s playoff teams were tested versus the SEC’s. Indiana and Oregon both escaped scares at Penn State, though the Nittany Lions still finished with a bowl win.
Meanwhile, SEC teams were grinding through far more dangerous bottom-half opponents. South Carolina pushed both Alabama and Texas A&M to the edge, and Texas A&M trailed the Gamecocks by 27 points at home. Auburn’s offense struggled badly, but its defense still made life difficult for Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
Florida also gave Georgia a tight game in its first outing after parting ways with Billy Napier, and that result ended up costing Texas a College Football Playoff spot just weeks before Florida fired Napier.
In Other News...
Alabama Players Fire Back After Opponent Takes Shot At The Tide
A little preseason edge has already crept into Alabamas 2026 opener, and it came from outside the program. East Carolina defensive back Derrion Horsley aimed a shot at the Crimson Tide logo on social media, then deleted it, but not before it drew attention from Alabama players who were quick to jump into the comments and make it clear they noticed.
The matchup is still months away, but the temperature is already rising for the Sept. 5 game at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama owns the only previous meeting between the schools, a one-game series that dates back to 1998, and East Carolina is trying to build some momentum after a rough recent run in season openers, which only adds a little more intrigue to a game that was already going to open plenty of eyes. [Read more 🡒]
Kalen DeBoer Just Stepped Into Alabamas Biggest Coaching Debate
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DeBoer has tried to keep the focus narrower than the outside noise, stressing the need to maximize the teams potential every day instead of letting the season become a referendum on one end goal. Alabama opens the 2026 season against East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and the first steps of this next chapter will come with the same question hanging over it: how much of this job is about the championship chase, and how much is about everything that has to happen before it? [Read more 🡒]
Bray Hubbard Shares The Truck Driver Complaint Every Alabama Fan Knows
Bray Hubbard spent part of a Sirius XM radio appearance talking about something far removed from Alabamas secondary: his modified GMC 2500 diesel truck. The senior safety described it as kind of illegal because of the emissions changes made to it, and he also voiced the kind of everyday gripe plenty of diesel drivers understand, waiting around while smaller cars clog the pump.
It was a light detour for a player who is otherwise focused on football, especially with Alabama set to open against East Carolina on Sept. 5 and Hubbard expected back on the field. Still, the conversation fit the broader Hubbard profile, a veteran Tide defender with enough personality to turn a vehicle discussion into a memorable aside, even if the real focus remains what he brings when the season gets going. [Read more 🡒]