Florida State and the other teams that narrowly missed making the College Football Playoffs are on Nick Saban’s mind.
Alabama under head coach Nick Saban’s leadership, Michigan, Washington, and Texas will be the four teams in this year’s CFP. After defeating Georgia in the SEC Championship game, the Crimson Tide was the final team to enter.
Following the match, Saban tried his best to get his squad excited about the playoffs. On Thursday, the renowned coach talked about his offer on The Pat McAfee Show.
“My respon
“I feel horrible about it because there are a number of teams this year that have a strong case for why they ought to be there. I understand,” stated Saban. “I’m really happy for our team; they’ve worked really hard. They’ve fought hard for the chance to face another top team in the nation in the Rose Bowl, so I’m happy they can accomplish what they have to do, but I also feel awful for the teams that had a chance to make the playoffs but didn’t.”
sibility and obligation is to our team,” added Saban. “I did everything in my power to highlight our accomplishments—winning 11 games in a row, or whatever—and defeating the top team in the nation, Georgia. That was my responsibility to our players and our team because we’ve changed from the beginning of the season, and I’m proud of how they handled it and how they performed in the SEC Championship game.”
Saban is familiar with what it’s like to just miss the College Football Playoff. Alabama finished as the fifth-ranked team in the CFP standings the previous season. He can now relate to some of the teams that were left off the field thanks to that experience.
“We have experienced this from the other side. We’ve been looking in from the outside,” Saban remarked. “We were the team that was left out. We understand the feeling somewhat, having finished as the fifth-place team.
Although Saban is ultimately happy that his team made it to the College Football Playoffs, he expressed sorrow for some of the early exitees, such as Florida State, which won the ACC Championship and had an unbeaten record.
