Nick Saban Reacts to College Football Playoff Selections

The Crimson Tide is set to rematch against Oklahoma on December 19 in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; ESPN analyst Nick Saban before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

While much of the college football world, including many Alabama fans, believed that Georgia's dismantling of the Crimson Tide would be enough to knock Kalen DeBoer's team from the College Football Playoff, the committee decided otherwise, instead keeping Alabama at No. 9 and lining up a first round rematch with Oklahoma.

Prior to the selection of this year's 12 team field, former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban spoke on both sides of the argument for his former team, saying, "You've got Alabama who probably had the most impressive run in the middle of the season when they beat Georgia at Georgia, and then three or four more ranked teams, at the time, all in a row."

He continued, "Now lately, for whatever reason, they're not playing as well as they did earlier in the season."

Saban also relayed a similar sentiment to that of DeBoer, saying, "How does playing in a conference championship game really impact your season? When other people are staying home, how can they get pushed ahead of you for that?"

While the former coach was not a part of the selection process himself, the committee seemed to take his words to heart, and did keep Alabama in the 12 team field.

Nick Saban laying the groundwork for the Group of 5 teams in the playoffs. Expect changes next year. #CFBPlayoff https://t.co/qg9Y6chZgJ pic.twitter.com/AMixWzvv61

— Jason Krump (@JasonKrump) December 7, 2025

Saban was asked what he thought of this year's crop of teams, to which he responded, "For years now, we have kept tweaking the criteria of how we select teams to be in the playoff... But I think that you're gonna have two teams [James Madison and Tulane] in the playoff that are nowhere near ranked as highly as some teams that are much better than them."

He continued, "I'm happy for the teams that got in, and I think the committee did a really good job, but I just think there was one team [Notre Dame] that got left out that shouldn't have."

The current Crimson Tide coach was also asked about his own thoughts on his team's playoff berth, saying, "We felt really good about what we accomplished all season long, and you just trust that the resume is what's going to provide the information to make this kind of decision."

DeBoer continued, speaking directly on the upcoming rematch with the Sooners, "Credit to Oklahoma and coach Venables. They win the field position, they win the turnover margin, and that's a lot of what we have done most games, but the two games we've faltered in late in the season, that was the case."

Alabama will face Oklahoma on December 19 at 7:00 p.m. EST for a chance to then take on the No. 1 overall seed Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl. While the Tide's last performance against the Sooners certainly left a lot to be desired, its SEC Championship matchup with Georgia should serve as evidence of how difficult it is to beat a team twice in one season.