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Nick Saban comments on whether or not SEC title game will mean as much in 12-team CFP era
By Sydney Hunte
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Nick Saban and Alabama are gearing up for the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.
More often than not, the SEC Championship has served as a de facto play-in game for the College Football Playoff. That won’t necessarily be the case on Saturday as Georgia may be in regardless of the game’s result and Alabama may miss out despite a win. That said, the SEC’s championship game has always been a showcase event.
But the CFP is set to expand to 12 teams starting in 2024. Will that lessen the importance of winning the SEC Championship?
“Well, I think winning the SEC is always a big thing,” Saban said on Sunday’s teleconference previewing the Bulldogs-Crimson Tide matchup. “Ever since I’ve been in this league, when you played in this game, when maybe the Playoffs weren’t the significant outcome that it is right now, it was still something special to be able to win the SEC.”
Saban added that winning the SEC would always be significant to him personally and that he doesn’t look at it from a standpoint of how many teams will be in the Playoff.
“This game has some significance in terms of what might happen in the Playoff, but that’s not necessarily true all the time,” he said. “There is a significance to playing in the SEC Championship Game.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
