College GameDay’s Nick Saban isn’t buying the College Football Playoff rankings.
It’s no secret that Saban, a seven-time national champion head coach at Alabama and LSU, isn’t a fan of the expanded College Football Playoff, and the coaching icon-turned-panelist just fired his latest shot, calling the rankings “bullsh–t,” during a visit on the Pat McAfee Show.
Saban specifically criticized the demotion of Indiana from No. 4 to No. 9 in the latest reveal.
The Hoosiers, on a bye last week, dropped to No. 9 just one week after avoiding Minnesota in a 23- 16 overtime win to improve to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten. They’re one seat ahead of No. 10 BYU, which suffered a 28-20 loss at Utah (No. 2 in the CFP), which picked off Bear Bachmeier four times last weekend.
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There are still three weeks of critical matchups to decide the final playoff field, and the movement of a team like Indiana is hardly the final say for a school that’ll likely end up in the final 12.
The College Football Playoff “Selection Committee” is essentially the new polling system from here on out. While the AP Top 25 – polled via approved media members and journalists alike – still exists, the CFP committee is giving folks an upfront look at the playoff picture. When the field expands to 24 schools next season, this committee could be releasing rankings even earlier in the season.
The obvious issue is impartiality, and whether a guru like Saban or the average college football fan can mutually call foul on a protocol leaning on 13 distinct administrators and former coaches instead of a media pool. Saban’s right to call it out, but it doesn’t feel a little late in the game to throw stones at the guys we’ve sold out to?
