Nick Saban couldn’t resist taking a shot at the Big Ten on Friday, just one day before Texas and Ohio State meet in one of the weekend’s marquee games.
During his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, Saban leaned into the old conference debate with a line aimed straight at the Big Ten.
“We’ve already got nine teams in the top 25,” Saban said.
“It’s not like the Big Ten where there’s three good teams at the top and then nothing.”
The comment came while Saban was discussing Mississippi State quarterback KaMario Taylor and whether the SEC has more depth this season. That’s when he fired off the jab.
The Big Ten has stumbled out of the gate. UMass lost to Rutgers, Wisconsin got blown out 41-13 by Notre Dame, and Michigan’s last-second escape against Western Michigan drew plenty of attention.
The SEC, on the other hand, enters the new slate at 16-0, though 13 of those wins came against Group of 6 or FCS opponents.
Saban also had praise for Taylor, calling him the “real deal.”
The conference argument figures to hover over the Texas-Ohio State matchup. The schools have played only five times before, all since 2005, with the Buckeyes winning the last two meetings in games that turned into bruising battles.
Because the programs live in separate conferences and spent decades headed to different bowl destinations, the matchup has rarely happened. But the modern playoff era could make this kind of nonconference clash a more familiar postseason sight, even after the current home-and-home agreement ends.
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