Nick Saban wants to see cupcakes dropped from schedules, changes to postseason
Many of Nick Saban’s peers have suggested he would make an excellent commissioner for college football if a position were ever created. On Wednesday, he showed why he might one day be an ideal fit.
In a conversation with ESPN’s Heather Dinich, Saban proposed a number of significant changes when it comes to scheduling the regular season and postseason eligibility. Saban wasn’t just speaking as a frustrated coach, he even referenced the potential television revenue and entertainment value that would come with his proposed changes.
One big change Saban would make is no more cupcake games for Power 5 teams. Saban suggested a schedule of 10 conference games (currently eight in the SEC) and two Power 5 non-conference opponents. He would also drop the current minimum wins to get to a bowl game in favor of a seeding system similar to college basketball’s March Madness.
“We should play all teams in the Power 5 conferences,” Saban said. “If we did that, then if we were going to have bowl games, we should do the bowl games just like we do in the NCAA basketball tournament — not by record but by some kind of power rating that gets you in a bowl game. If we did that, people would be a little less interested in maybe bowl games and more interested in expanding the playoff.”
Saban sees multiple benefits to a 12-game schedule of only Power 5 opponents.
“You eliminate the six wins to get in a bowl game and now you can have a different kind of scheduling that is more fan interest, more good games, bring out the better quality team,” he said, “and whether you expand the playoff or have a system where it’s like now — we take the top 12 teams and decide what bowl game they go to — just take them all.
“In this scenario, there would be more opportunity to play more teams in your league, as well as to have more games that people would be interested in. We all play three or four games a year now that nobody’s really interested in. We’d have more good games, more public interest, more fan interest, better TV.”
It’s doubtful that anyone will argue with Saban’s point that dropping cupcake games would benefit the fans and TV networks alike. Unfortunately, as he hints at, no school will want to drop its gimme games if it hurts the chance of going to postseason. The NCAA may one day consider changing the bowl system eligibility system, but the College Football Playoff committee has showed no signs of changing its format and selection process.
Saban’s proposal also would not go over well with non-Power 5 programs, particularly those in the FCS. The big payday that comes with making a trip to an SEC stadium goes a long way toward funding the athletic department budget for many of those smaller schools.
From a fan prospective, however, Saban’s proposals are fun to imagine.
Yet UA and AU both have Mercer on their schedules.
So put your money where your mouth is Saban. Stop playing only one power 5 team every year.
When was the last time he scheduled two power 5 teams during the regular season?
I for one would love to see the Gators play an additional home and away game with power 5 teams in addition to our annual game against the crimiNoles. Going up to some of the big houses u p north and out west would be a blast every year (wish this would have been the norm when the 12th regular season game was added).
When was the last time Florida played a non conference game outside of the state of Florida?
Yeah. Maybe you should sit this thread out.
We don’t have to leave our state to find quality out of conference power 5 teams whys that such an issue. Excluding independents name a better non conference annual rivalry that Uf vs FSU
The issue is everybody knows you’re too scared to leave home to play games.
We are playing Michigan in Dallas this year.
Lot of sensitive Bama fans out there. UF plays FSU every year and then every 4 or five years we play a second P5 teams. Show me another SEC team that schedules two P5 non-SEC teams that often.
Oh yeah, that would make alot of sense for Bama to be the only team in the country committing to that idea. Come on you simple fool, he’s happy to do it if all are held to the same standard.
Why would he do that if the competition is not? He is saying he would like for all teams to do so but he is not stupid. He is not going to do it if others don’t.
Queue the “well then why doesn’t Alabama already do this?” posts.
Right guys. Because there are so many Athletic Directors at Power 5 teams eager to schedule Alabama. They’re practically standing in line to take that L.
Like Clemson and OSU took those Ls in 2015 and 2017 national championship games?
UGA wishes they had those losses. Also UGA lost more games last season than I’ve experienced in my time as a student at Alabama, I’m a senior. Have fun underachieving again this year
Finally something saban and I agree with.
For those (gatorfans) asking why he hasn’t scheduled more than 1 P5 team… Since when does the coach do the scheduling? Sure, saban pretty much gets what he wants in tuscaloosa, but I doubt it’s his job to seek out opponents.
It’s simple. Apparently not simple enough for some…
To imply that a coach has absolutely no impact on their future opponent scheduling is ignorant.
Expand to 9 conference games and everyone will lose a Mercer on their schedule. Coach Saban stands alone in wanting to improve the quality of college football. In the meantime, other conferences like the B1G, Big 12 and Pac 12 have to show the SEC and ACC how to man-up.
Eh. I for one don’t see much difference in playing a terrible P5 team like Purdue and playing a “cupcake”. Sure, the optics are a little better on the schedule, but not the field.
I wonder what’s brought about this change of attitude. He’s pretty vocally voiced against more games in the recent past, as well as being for the cupcake games.
??? When has he ever voiced against more games and all about cupcake games? You have no idea what you are talking about, go troll another forum.
He was against more games a year or two ago, claiming “player safety is a concern”. Look it up and get your facts straight instead of sucking Saban’s di**.
Boy, the hate is strong in you…guess I’d be pissed too if my team was the most overrated SEC team over the past decade, lol. Not sucking Saban’s di** either, just pointing out that he is the only one that has voiced adding more conference games and the whole player safety thing was going off of the defensive subs and HUNH offenses, not just going against adding more games. C
He was against adding the 9th SEC game when it came up. But all SEC coaches pretty much were.
No, no, he was not against the 9 game schedule, he actually was the only one advocating for it…type this into Google and see for yourself ‘Nick Saban: Nine-game conference schedule would be better for teams and fans’
For fans of a Gator team that Alabama has spanked 6 times straight y’all sure do love pumping your chests out.
So it’s times like these I realize how unique Tennessee’s scheduling of a power five opponent to start the year each year is. It may not always be in our favor, ie Oklahoma in 14-15, but it’s still respectable.
Of course he wouldn’t mind. He’s built his team by out-recruiting everyone else. Bama can more easily withstand the rigors of a tougher schedule because they have 3rd year 5 stars as backups for every position. It would be another advantage for him, just like trying to ban hurry up offenses.
I think playing one cupcake a year is a good thing to do. It gives these small schools a nice payday, gives the vast majority of players a chance to play a game vs the big boys that they wouldn’t otherwise have, gives some folks an opportunity to buy a decent seat for a game LOL and gives back ups a chance for some reps.
Yep. And if those small schools lose those paydays, many will have to fold athletic programs.
I went to a MAC school and we have been cupcakes for Ohio State, Florida, Wisconsin, etc. We also have beat Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, and even Alabama during the Shula dynasty years. It is great for MAC and other mid major conferences to schedule games against the Big 10, Big 12, and other conferences. Every year the MAC knocks of at least one big school. This is part of what makes each season fun and unpredictable. That is what college football is.
These are mid sized state schools whose mission is to graduate teachers, nurses, CPAs, engineers, etc. It is not the mission of every school in the nation to have a 200 million dollar football program.
I would hate to see college football consolidate into 60 or 65 power programs and leave everybody else out of it. My school will never be Alabama or Ohio State and that is fine by me.
One negitive from just playing P5 schools is it would result in many of the smaller schools having to shut down athletic pregrams. They survive on that big paychecks from the bigger schools. That helps out tons of kids that would never get a chance at college without it.