Nick Saban explains how bowl games influenced his change of heart about Playoff expansion
By Keith Farner
Published:
Nick Saban has had a change of heart in recent years about College Football Playoff expansion, and he shared in a recent interview with “Back On The Record With Bob Costas” that bowl game opt-outs influenced his latest opinion.
Saban recalled that he was initially against Playoff expansion because it would minimize the importance of bowl games.
“I’ve changed my opinion about this because bowl games are not something players want to play in,” Saban said. “How many guys opt out of going to the Sugar Bowl? Going to the Sugar Bowl as an SEC coach, that was one of the great competitive venues and great opportunities you could ever have as a player. Now players opt out of that if it’s not a part of the Playoffs. Therefore, I’m for expanding the Playoffs. I think 12 might be the right number. How we get there, I don’t really know. But I do think we have to be careful with how many games a college player plays. Are we still going to have SEC Championship Game, Big Ten Championship Game and all those things to go with it?”
It’s unclear when the interview was conducted, and whether it was before recent vote to officially expand the Playoff. But Saban was also in support of at least making an 8-team field using the major bowls as the preliminary sites for the early-round games.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
