Saban Slams 24-Team Playoff, Says It’s “Too Many”

Oct. 8, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Nick Saban talks to the media at the Bama Theatre for the red carpet premiere of SABAN, the new ESPN Originals docuseries.Nick Saban cut right through the noise on Friday when he called the new 24-team playoff a bad idea. The former Alabama coach told fans on the “New Heights” podcast that the field is simply too crowded. He believes the expansion hurts the game more than it helps. Saban made his point clear while talking to the Kelce brothers about the changes coming next season.The core issue is that the best teams will still win, but the rest will just play for cash. Saban argued that the current system already stretched players too thin with extra games. He noted that his teams played 15 games three times and he thought that was too many, according to Yahoo Sports. Now the plan adds even more pressure without fixing the quality of the competition.Money Is The Only ReasonWhen Travis Kelce asked Saban why anyone would push for a bigger tournament, the answer was blunt. “So what is the reason to actually do it?” Saban asked the audience on the Friday podcast. Jason Kelce answered immediately, saying, “Money.” Saban agreed with the assessment but warned fans about the cost of that cash. He hates to see the SEC championship game go away because it means so much to the players and fans. That tradition is a big thing for the league, and it is a great venue that people love.The new rules mean conference title games will likely disappear to make room for the expanded playoff. As part of the agreement, a Big Ten squad must face a power opponent in a non-conference matchup. Should conference titles remain, a team might compete in 18 contests upon advancing to the national title. Dropping the title games allows the playoffs to start earlier and caps the total number of games at 17. Saban feels this is still too much for college athletes to handle.Tradition Gets Lost For A DealThe College Football Playoff issued a statement on Friday afternoon about the media rights for this expansion. The statement said, “A formal agreement between the CFP and ESPN regarding future media rights in connection with potential expansion is in the final stages of review by the CFP.” This confirms the deal is moving forward despite the complaints from the coaching ranks. Saban thinks the system would have worked fine with just 12 or maybe 16 teams. He said the 12-team version was a good tournament even if a few teams that should not have been in got selected.The SEC already has a nine-game schedule in place to match the other power conferences. This rule forces teams to play tougher opponents without the safety net of a conference title game. Saban believes pride in winning a conference championship matters more than adding weak teams to a bracket. He thinks the political pressure to make the field bigger led to a flawed plan. The former coach knows that 24 teams are too many for a true national championship race.