Nick Saban has come out against a 24-team College Football Playoff. CBS Sports' Brad Crawford reported that Saban called money "the bottom line" in the push to expand. Per CBS, the former Alabama coach is fine with postseason changes but wants something different from what is on the table.
Yahoo Sports and Awful Announcing's Sean Keeley both note that the Playoff will likely expand to 24 teams starting in 2027. Keeley points out that ESPN, where Saban works as a college football analyst, stands to benefit from the extra high-value CFP game inventory, yet Saban is not among those in favor. The one line quoted in the feeds is his preference: "I would be for 16 (teams) – I think that would…" The summary cuts off there. Awful Announcing and one Yahoo headline call his idea a "compromise," while HEAVY, in another Yahoo item, describes it as his "own creative alternative." We don't have enough of the reporting to say what that alternative contains beyond the 16-team figure.
Another Yahoo piece, headlined "How Much Is Too Much?", frames his argument as one of limits. It says Saban understands why a bigger playoff sounds appealing: more fan bases stay interested, more teams get a shot, and more players can picture themselves competing for a championship. His objection, in that telling, is about where the line falls.
The team he led for years is in the middle of a season that shows why access matters. Alabama is 5-1 and 3-1 in the SEC, second in the conference, but has lost its last game: 20-17 to Georgia on Oct. 10. Before that it beat Mississippi State 56-23 on the road and South Carolina 49-18. The Tide's position is a reminder of how much a single result can change a postseason picture, though none of the reporting ties Saban's comments to this season.
Alabama's next game is at Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 17, a chance to end that one-game losing streak.
Sat, Oct 17, 3:30 PM ET
The reporting doesn't say when a 24-team format would be formally approved, only that it is expected to begin in 2027.
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