Nick Saban didn’t sound rattled by college football’s chaos after Week 7. If anything, he sounded convinced the sport will sort itself out by the end.
Speaking before his appearance at the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham on Monday, the former Alabama coach and current ESPN analyst said he still expects the biggest powers to rise back to the top.
“I still think the best teams will end up being the best teams,” Saban said. “They just might not be perfect.”
The weekend delivered a jolt that backed up the point. Five of the AP Top 25’s top seven teams lost on the same Saturday for the first time, a reminder of how unstable the landscape can be. Saban said that kind of volatility is tied to how hard it is to get steady play in today’s college game.
“It’s always been challenging to get players to play with consistency and get players to sort of maintain intensity, I’m going to say, from play to play, game to game, week to week,” Saban said. “And I think it’s more challenging now.”
He also leaned on his own championship résumé to make the case that perfection is overrated. Saban had made the same point on College GameDay before Alabama’s trip to Knoxville.
“We had seven championships. Only two teams went undefeated,” Saban said on the broadcast.
Georgia’s 27-24 home loss to unranked Auburn fit neatly into that theme. The Bulldogs had reached No. 1 just a week earlier, and quarterback Gunner Stockton’s fumble helped set up Auburn’s walk-off field goal.
“It only takes turning the ball over to do it,” Saban said. “That’s what did Georgia.”
Saban also addressed Alabama’s 26-10 loss at Tennessee, though he carefully avoided judging Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer’s internal preparation.
“I can’t speak to internally what happens on the team,” Saban said.
What he did say was that Tennessee had the better plan and the better punch on both sides of the ball.
“Tennessee is a good team, especially on defense,” Saban said. “I mean, they were physical.
We couldn’t run the ball. Jim Knowles is a really good defensive coordinator.”
He singled out Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop, who wears No. 18, as well. “a load.” Bishop rushed for 159 yards, and Tennessee forced four turnovers while blanking Alabama in the second half. ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said the Tide got “bullied” in Knoxville.
The loss was Alabama’s second straight, something the program had not experienced since 2007, Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa.
Saban said Tennessee’s identity has changed from the version fans may remember.
“Tennessee is winning a different way,” Saban said. “They used to win with wide-open, explosive plays and outscore you. Now it’s play good defense and run the ball, shrink the game.”
He also weighed in on where the sport may be headed next, with the College Football Playoff moving toward a 24-team field starting in 2027. Saban has backed a 16-team format as a middle ground, and he said the financial side of the sport is the real engine behind the expansion push.
“I know people are looking for new sources of revenue as costs go up relative to paying players and all that kind of stuff,” Saban said. “But I do think this is all about revenue.”
Saban ended by mentioning that he texted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who will miss the rest of the season with blood clots in both lungs. Hurts played for Saban at Alabama from 2016 to 2018 and was part of the 2017 national championship team.
“He’s such a first-class guy,” Saban said of Hurts.
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