Nick Saban Says He Got 250+ Anonymous Calls Telling Him Alabama Shouldn't Be in CFP

Suffice it to say Nick Saban has heard about the displeasure regarding Alabama's inclusion in the College Football Playoff.

The Crimson Tide head coach told players during an awards banquet Sunday that over 250 people anonymously called him since Alabama was given the No. 4 seed by the CFP committee over Florida State.

"I've had probably over 250 anonymous callers today, calling me every name in the book, talking about how we shouldn't be in the playoff," Saban said, per Tony Tsoukalas of TideIllustrated. "So we still have naysayers out there. We still have players who don't believe in us."

The CFP committee shocked the world Sunday by excluding undefeated Florida State from the playoffs in favor of Texas and Alabama, who each have one loss. It was the first time in the CFP history that an undefeated Power Five team was not included in the final four teams, a decision that drew widespread scorn from fans across the nation.

"I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee's decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games," Florida State coach Mike Norvell said in a statement. "What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is OK to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging nonconference games?"

The decision to keep Florida State out of the playoff largely came down to the season-ending injury to quarterback Jordan Travis. The Seminoles won both of their games without Travis but did so in ugly fashion, squeaking by Florida and Louisville the past two weeks.

Alabama had perhaps the single best win of the season, taking down Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, but also was a week removed from needing a miracle 4th-and-goal conversion from Auburn's 31 yard line to defeat the Tigers.

"Most of these people are from Florida," Saban said of the angered fans. "I don't know how in the hell they got my number, but it is out there."

Alabama is set to play Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.