Nick Saban isn’t quite ready for a 24-team College Football Playoff.
The legendary coach indicated Friday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he would prefer a smaller field than the one reportedly coming in 2027.
“I would be for 16 [teams]. I think that would be a good compromise,” Saban said. “I would be for keeping conference championship games as maybe a play-in to the 16, which now you’d have 20 teams that had hope. But I don’t think there’s much support for that. I don’t think anybody really likes that.”
Reports emerged Thursday that the CFP is moving toward expanding from 12 to 24 teams next season.
The proposed “19+4+1” format would include 19 at-large bids, the four Power Four conference champions and the highest-ranked team from the Group of Six.
The changes also are expected to eliminate conference championship games and move the start of the season up by a week.
The expansion would double the size of the playoff field just three seasons after it grew from four to 12 teams before the 2024 season.
Saban sees one driving force behind the push for expansion: money.
“The bottom line is money. That’s the bottom line,” Saban said. “Universities need it because of the way we’re spending more now for players. There’s still a cost to having Olympic sports, which are important, I think to be able to keep and give people opportunities to compete. And how do we do that?”
ESPN reportedly has a deal to broadcast the CFP for $345 million a year over the next five seasons. That is on top of the $1.3 billion ESPN is averaging per year for the broadcasting rights.
It’s not the first time Saban has cautioned against a 24-team playoff.
The seven-time national champion raised concerns over the summer about the toll a longer postseason could take on players.
“I do think we need to take the player into consideration, not just the financial circumstances of increasing the Playoff,” Saban said in July. “… What’s it about? Crowning a champion or trying to financially squeeze more money out of the College Football Playoff at the expense of how many games players have to play?”
