Nick Saban names College Football Playoff team that doesn't receive proper respect

Nick Saban has labeled a College Football Playoff team as "disrespected" by college football fans.

ESPN personality Nick Saban does the Guns Up gesture toward Texas Tech students before a Big 12 Conference football game | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2025 College Football Playoff rolls on with its quarterfinals on Wednesday. The round will open with No. 10 Miami (11-2, 6-2) squaring off against No. 2 Ohio State (12-1, 9-0) in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, Texas (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

Three more games will be featured on Thursday. One of these three is the Rose Bowl between No. 1 Indiana (13-0, 9-0) and No. 9 Alabama (11-3, 6-2) in Pasadena, California (4 p.m. EST, ESPN).

The Hoosiers are favored by seven points over the Crimson Tide, per ESPN Bet.

The Rose Bowl matchup has been a topic of conversation across the national media landscape in the week leading up to the quarterfinals. ESPN analyst and former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban discussed the national perception of the Hoosiers on the Pat McAfee Show ahead of the matchup. Saban referenced a conversation he had with an Alabama fan on a golf course about the lack of respect for the Hoosiers.

"People still don't have the proper respect for Indiana."

—Nick Saban on how fans view Indiana football 👀 (via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/Fbk2xF20U2

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 30, 2025

"I think in the outside world, away from Indiana, people still don't have the proper respect for Indiana," Saban said. "I'm not saying that's true for Alabama's football team. I know their coaches have respect, and I know the players have respect, and I know it's going to be a very, very challenging matchup for them. Fans don't look at the game from a technical standpoint like we all do, and Indiana is a [expletive] good team."

Traditionally, the Crimson Tide and the Hoosiers are two programs that could not be more different.

Alabama acknowledges 18 national championships throughout its 133-year history as a football program. Five different Alabama football coaches have guided the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season in its history: Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban.

Prior to Curt Cignetti's arrival in Bloomington, Indiana had never won 10 or more games in a season. Bo McMillin's 1945 team was 7-7, tied for 10th at Northwestern, away from a 10-win season. John Pont's 1967 team was the only other team to get close to 10 wins, but the Hoosiers fell at Minnesota (33-7) and to USC (14-3) in the Rose Bowl.

Bowl games alone have been hard to come by for the Hoosiers. Indiana has been to 15 total bowls in its history, the earliest being the aforementioned 1967 Rose Bowl. Even with their Rose Bowl appearance this year, the Hoosiers have still not been to bowl games for more than two consecutive seasons as a program.

The winner between the Crimson Tide and Hoosiers will take on either No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1, 8-1) or No. 5 Oregon (12-1, 8-1) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti during the Indiana versus Ohio State Big Ten Championship football game | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images