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How Nick Saban Views Potential College Football Playoff Expansion The former Alabama head coach weighs the impact of an increase in the number of games, as 'we need to take the player into consideration.' Jan 10, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2022 CFP college football national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Mark J.
Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports The NCAA Basketball Tournament was expanded from 68 teams to a field of 76 on May 7, and talks to increase the number of teams in the College Football Playoff have become much more apparent since then.
From 2014-23, the CFP had four teams qualify, while the last two seasons have been under a 12-team format.Over the past few months, ideas have come up about a 16-team and even a 24-team model.
The Big Ten has led the push for 24 teams, but the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey is strongly against it.is quite familiar the College Football Playoff, as the Crimson Tide made the postseason tournament eight times with his leadership, winning it all three times.Saban was asked about potential CFP expansion by ESPN's Mike Greenberg on"Well, I just think that there were three occasions where we played 15 games when I was coaching, and I thought 15 games was too many games for college players to play in a season,"."Now you can potentially play 17.
So if we go to anything beyond 16, to me, you're adding games without eliminating conference championship games, which I think are venues that people really enjoy."So I'm kind of going for 16, or you could take the model where you could use the conference championship games as a wild card type of thing, and that's part of the playoff system, so that in effect would go to 20 without adding more games.
" While more CFP games creates more revenue, it takes a toll on a team.
Every team in the sport plays at least 12 contests.There's typically an additional 1-2 for conference championships and bowl game, but an ever further expanded CFP field could reach around 20 like Saban said."We need to take the player into consideration, not just the financial circumstances of increasing the playoffs," Saban said.
"I don't think, other than Notre Dame last year, there was any team that didn't get in a playoff that would have a chance to win the championship.
"So, what's it about? Crowning a champion, or trying to financially squeeze more money out of the College Football Playoff at the expense of how many games a player has to play?"2017-18: No.
4 seed, won National ChampionshipHUNTER DE SIVER Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024.
He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner.
Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023.Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023.