Nick Saban reveals his stance on College Football Playoff expansion

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama coach Nick Saban usually does not weigh in on issues around college football unless he feels particularly strongly about them. However, he ha opened up about how he feels about the upcoming College Football Playoff expansion.

In an upcoming interview with Bob Costas for HBO’s “Back on the Record” set to air Friday, Saban said he supports the expansion of the playoff, because it is the only way to ensure that top players are interested in playing in postseason games.

Nick Saban tells Back on the Record w/Bob Costas, which airs on HBO tonight at 11 pm ET. "Bowl games are not something players want to play in. … Now players opt out of that if it's not part of the playoff. Therefore, I'm for expanding the playoffs"

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 9, 2022

Saban has had reservations about expansion in the past, though that was because he was concerned about further damage to standard bowl games. Other high-profile names have come around on expansion for largely the same reason.

The playoff itself has other reasons to expand to 12 teams, but ultimately, the switch appears to be popular. If Saban is on board with it, there probably aren’t a lot of detractors left.