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Alabama HC Nick Saban Says He Would Like to See 'Parity' Return to College Football
May 13, 2022
Alabama football head coach Nick Saban told ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum that he would like to see more parity in college football.
"Well, you know, one of the things I like to see us be able to work back to is, you know everything in college football has always had parity.
"You know, the same scholarships, the same academic support, health care, whatever it is, and I don't think we have that balance right now, which could affect the parity of college football and college athletics as a whole.
"And I know we got a lot of good people working on it, and I'm sure they'll come up with a good solution for us."
There isn't much parity in college football these days. SEC teams have won 12 national titles since 2006, including six from Saban's Crimson Tide alone.
As far as college athletics spending goes, Sportico (h/t Nikki Chavanelle of On3) reported that eight of the top 25 spenders are SEC teams, while 10 are Big Ten schools.
Ohio State led the way during the 2019-20 fiscal year at $215,209,566. Alabama was fourth at $173,141,125. In comparison, Louisiana-Monroe notably had $18,140,989 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, per Emely Hernandez of the Monroe News-Star.
Obviously, greater spending can lead to far more success on the playing fields. The top 25 spenders are filled with blue-blood programs who post winning seasons every year. There's little to no parity in college football because of it, and the rich tend to stay richer, a la Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia.
Sometimes, less-heralded football programs crash the national landscape and fare quite well, a la Boise State, Cincinnati and Western Michigan. But ultimately, the powerhouses largely stay that way to a massive influx of money year after year. Parity will be impossible to come by because of it.
