Nick Saban didn’t leave much room for nostalgia when he sized up the national title race on The Pat McAfee Show.
The former Alabama coach, who built one of the sport’s great dynasties in Tuscaloosa, left his old program out of his list of the four most complete teams. Instead, he pointed to Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, and Ohio State.
“The four teams to me that have been the most complete are Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, and Ohio State.” He then added, “I like Indiana and we're gonna see what they're made of against Ohio State.”
That list lines up with ESPN’s FPI ratings, which also put those four teams atop the title picture in the same order: Georgia at 18.4%, Notre Dame at 17.9%, Miami at 14.1%, and Ohio State at 12.5%. Indiana is slotted at No. 6 in title likelihood, with Alabama sitting at No. 5.
The omission is notable because Saban’s Alabama track record speaks for itself. From 2008, his second season in Tuscaloosa, through 2023, the Tide never finished worse than No. 11 in the final rankings. During that stretch, Saban won five national championships and reached the title game three more times.
Since he stepped away and moved to television, Alabama’s standard has looked harder to sustain. Kalen DeBoer has now lost four games in each of his first two seasons, giving him more four-loss seasons already than Saban had, and matching Saban’s total of seasons with more than two losses at two.
Alabama did slip into the College Football Playoff last season with three losses, then won its first-round game before falling in the quarterfinal.
The Tide also took a hit last week in a 20-17 loss to Georgia. Even so, FPI still gives Alabama an 82.4% chance to make the College Football Playoff and projects a 10-2 regular season.
But at Alabama, good is never enough. Great is the standard.
And when Saban leaves his old team off the shortlist, that says plenty.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Defense Faces A Threat It Hasn't Seen Yet
Notre Dames defensive front is heading into a different kind of test this week, one that starts in the trenches and quickly spreads to every level of the field. BYU brings a strong offensive line, a quarterback in Bear Bachmeier who can keep plays alive, and an attack that has been among the nations better units at creating yards per play and chunk gains. For the Irish, the challenge is less about surviving one matchup than holding up against a style that can stress a defense snap after snap.
The concern does not end at the line of scrimmage, either. Notre Dames safeties will have to stay alert for Walker Lyons and the ways BYU tries to create leverage in the passing game, because the Cougars have shown they can turn ordinary snaps into explosive ones if a defense loses discipline. For an Irish defense that has usually been able to lean on pressure and positioning, this is the sort of opponent that can punish even small mistakes and make every missed assignment feel a lot bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Faces A Long-Avoided Test With CFP Pressure In Provo
Notre Dames trip to Provo arrives with the kind of stakes that tend to sharpen every storyline around a November game. Both teams are undefeated, the matchup carries College Football Playoff implications, and it will be the first Top-10 meeting between the Irish and BYU in Provo. For Notre Dame, it is also a chance to test itself in a setting that has not always been kind to visiting teams and to measure whether its rsum can keep pace with the national picture.
The series has enough history to give this one extra weight, even before the rankings and postseason context enter the conversation. Notre Dame has long had to reckon with the challenge of playing at BYU, where the Cougars have made life difficult for visitors, and this meeting adds another layer to a relationship that has periodically produced memorable games. With both teams still unbeaten, the spotlight in Provo is less about past results than what this one could mean for the Irish down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Dortch Could Solve A Notre Dame Frontcourt Concern
Notre Dames frontcourt picture for 2026-27 may not be settled, but Bryce Dortch is emerging as a name worth watching. The junior from Somerville, Massachusetts, is projected to work as a backup power forward for Micah Shrewsberrys team, and his appeal is rooted less in scoring flash than in the kind of versatility that can help a rotation survive the grind of a season. Last year at Rutgers, Dortch averaged 2.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, a modest line that still hints at a player who can do a little of everything and provide useful minutes when the Irish need stability.
Shrewsberry has pointed to Dortchs versatility and the progress he has made since joining the program, which is the sort of development coaches love to see from a piece who may not need the offense run through him. For Notre Dame, the real value could be in whether Dortch can give the frontcourt a defensive edge and enough flexibility to patch over lineup issues as the roster takes shape. If he keeps trending in that direction, he may end up being more than just a depth option. [Read more 🡒]