After 17 years as Alabama’s head coach, Nick Saban enters the 2024 season as an ESPN analyst, and the change caused some bumps in the road at SEC Media Days. However, once they were all sorted, the longtime face of college football shared a take that continues the “SEC vs. everyone else” conversation.
Nick Saban on How Many SEC Teams Will Make the 2024-2025 College Football Playoff
Saban was slightly delayed in his first Media Days as a media member, and it wasn’t because of traffic. “I’ve never worn a credential in my life and was always, for 17 years, able to get into SEC Media Day without a credential,” Saban said. “I had to go back to the room today and get my credential to get in.”
But once he sat down, he found his groove. “Get Up” host Mike Greenberg asked Saban if Georgia was the clear-cut favorite to win the SEC. Rather than give a soliloquy on how great the bulldogs are, which would be difficult as they are a bitter rival for the former HC, Saban shifted the attention to how loaded the conference is.
“I think Georgia has a really good team. I think Texas has a really good team. But I also think there are six or seven teams in the SEC who could be playoff teams.”
The newly expanded College Football Playoff with feature 12 teams: the five highest-ranked conference champions, who will receive automatic bids, and the next seven highest-ranked programs.
The number of participants from a single conference is not limited, meaning Saban’s belief could very well come true. In our 2024 SEC Power Rankings, the top seven schools were Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, Missouri, LSU, and Tennesee.
According to FanDuel, each team currently has +200 or higher odds to make the dance, which isn’t surprising given their coaching staffs and depth charts. Yet, having to play each other throughout the year will likely result in one or two of the aforementioned programs falling down the final Top 25.
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Nevertheless, the 2024 season will “mean more” for the conference and should result in even more must-watch games down the stretch.
Saban’s successor, former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, will make his inaugural SEC Media Days appearance on Wednesday, along with QB Jalen Milore, G, Tyler Booker, and DB Malachi Moore.
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