Nick Saban may have traded the headset for a microphone, but he hasn’t lost his edge-or his willingness to speak his mind. The former Alabama head coach, now a college football analyst, didn’t hold back this week when weighing in on one of the most polarizing debates of the postseason: the College Football Playoff selection and Notre Dame’s exclusion.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban took aim at what he sees as a fundamental flaw in how the CFP committee is evaluating teams. And he did it with the kind of blunt analogy only Saban could deliver.
“When a Triple-A baseball team wins a championship, we don’t put them in the World Series,” Saban said. “That’s the equivalent of what we do when JMU gets into the College Football Playoff, and Notre Dame doesn’t.”
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t a shot at James Madison. Saban made that point himself.
The Dukes had a tremendous season and earned every bit of recognition they’ve received. But Saban’s issue isn’t with JMU’s effort-it’s with the system that allowed them to leapfrog a program like Notre Dame.
And he’s not wrong to ask the tough question: Would James Madison have the same record if they played Notre Dame’s schedule? Or Georgia’s? Or Ohio State’s?
That’s the heart of Saban’s argument. The College Football Playoff is supposed to pit the best against the best. But when a team from a Group of Five conference gets in over a Power Five powerhouse that’s battled through a gauntlet of top-tier opponents, it raises eyebrows-and in Saban’s case, alarms.
What Saban is really highlighting is the disparity in strength of schedule. Notre Dame, for all its flaws this season, played a slate of opponents that would’ve tested any team in the country. JMU, while dominant in its own right, simply didn’t face the same level of week-in, week-out competition.
This isn't about tradition or brand names. It’s about fairness and context. Saban’s analogy, while sharp, underscores a broader concern: are we evaluating teams based on their records alone, or are we considering the path they took to get there?
In a playoff system that’s still evolving, these are the kinds of conversations that matter. And when someone like Nick Saban speaks, the college football world listens-not because he’s trying to stir the pot, but because he’s been at the center of this system for decades. He knows what championship-caliber football looks like, and he’s not afraid to call it out when he thinks the standard is slipping.
So whether you agree with Saban or not, one thing’s for sure: the debate over playoff inclusion isn’t going away anytime soon. And with voices like his weighing in, it’s bound to stay front and center.