Alabama's Nick Saban Says CFB Playoff Expansion Won't End 'Speculation' on Field

Ahead of No. 4 Alabama's Rose Bowl matchup with No. 1 Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal game, head coach Nick Saban isn't convinced that an expanded format would end the discussion regarding the teams qualifying for the playoffs.

"The big games are going to be the big games and there's always going to be speculation of who the best 12 teams are just like there's speculation now who the best four teams are," Saban said, per ESPN's Alex Scarborough.

Much of the discussion regarding the 2023 College Football Playoff selection was about the Crimson Tide, who earned the final spot after defeating Georgia in the SEC Championship game.

However, Florida State went undefeated in the regular season and finished with a 13-0 record by winning the ACC Championship game. Standout quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending leg injury in the Seminoles' Week 12 win over North Alabama. With Travis out, the CFP committee chose the Crimson Tide over a short-handed Florida State squad.

"In the eyes of the committee, Florida State is a different team without Jordan Travis," committee chairman Boo Corrigan said, per Sports Illustrated's Katie Windham. "One of the things we do consider is player availability. Our job is to rank the best teams, and in the final decision looking at it was Alabama at four and Florida State at five."

In the 2024 season, 12 schools will make the playoffs which would ensure that a team such as Florida State still gets a chance to compete for the National Championship. Saban feels that this could cause more debate among the teams on the fringe of the postseason picture as well as giving successful teams a bittersweet end to their respective seasons.

"One of the great traditions of college football for many years was if you had a great season, you got to go to a bowl game," he said, per Scarborough. "It's great for the players. They got a lot of positive reinforcement. Maybe you didn't win a championship but you had a good team."

"The more we expand the playoffs -- which I'm not against, I'm for -- it minimizes the importance of bowl games," Saban added.

Alabama will look to make the most of its late surge to enter the College Football Playoff, attempting to defeat quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns on Monday. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. ET.