Nick Saban says national championships don’t make Big Ten best conference, cites SEC depth in CFP
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Nick Saban knows better than anyone that winning national titles can change individual perceptions or perceptions about conferences.
The former SEC coach won 6 national titles at Alabama and another one at LSU, and the ESPN college football analyst also knows that the Big Ten is the league that’s winning all the national championships right now. The Big Ten has ripped off 3 straight nattys, with Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana capturing the past 3 titles, in that order.
Some prevailing thoughts would dictate that because the Big Ten is winning those titles, that it’s also now the best conference in college football. Not so fast, said Saban during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Thursday morning.
“First of all, whoever wins the national championship doesn’t define who has the best conference,” Nick Saban said. “I think the best conference gets defined by how many good teams you have from top to bottom.”
Saban gave credit where credit was due, hailing the Big Ten for those 3 recent national titles, including Michigan’s takedown of his Alabama team in the 2023 College Football Playoff semifinals.
“I do think that the Big Ten has had three really, really good football teams,” Saban said. “They had really, really good teams. Last year, we had five teams in the Playoff as an SEC conference. There’s pretty good depth in this league. There’s a lot of good teams in the SEC.”
The SEC will be challenged to back up Saban’s theory again this fall when the season plays out and the CFP qualifiers are chosen. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about which SEC and Big Ten teams have the best shot to make the Playoff in 2026:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
