Nick Saban typically spends his Fridays during the college football season preparing for ESPN's "College GameDay" and making his regular appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" from that week's game site.
This week, however, the legendary former Alabama coach added something different to his schedule, joining his fellow ESPN colleague Jason Kelce
and his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, on the "New Heights" podcast ahead of a loaded Week 10 slate that features No. 1 Miami vs. No. 6 Notre Dame.Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Saban's appearance on "New Heights:"
Nick Saban is out on 24-team College Football Playoff
Just two years after expanding to a 12-team field, the College Football Playoff
is expected to grow again, with a 24-team format slated to begin in 2027.
As previously noted by USA TODAY, what the new format will look like is still uncertain, largely due to the fact that the addition of 12 teams and an extra round will have to be squeezed into a crowded December schedule. The CFP system was first adopted in 2014.
Consider Saban part of the conglomerate against it, as he didn't hold back in sounding off on his thoughts about the format change.
"There’s not 24 teams in the country that can win the National Championship," Saban said.
“There’s not 24 teams in the country that can win the National Championship”
— New Heights (@newheightshow) November 6, 2026
Nick Saban is OUT on the 24 team playoff, so quit askin’
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!!! pic.twitter.com/aehwBp51Q7
Saban questioned the reasoning behind the expected change, arguing that financial incentives are the primary force behind the playoff's expansion.
He then went on a brief rant about what a 24-team field "gives up" in college football, such as the SEC championship (and other conference championships).
"Playing in the SEC Championship was a big thing to our players, it was a big thing to our fans, it was a tradition, and it was a great venue," Saban said. "There are only two teams that can play in the national championship, but more teams can play in those kinds of championship games.
"There’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship. And we're going to give that up to have an extra game, where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team. I'm not a big (proponent) of it."
Saban went on to finish by saying that a 24-team playoff "minimizes the importance" of the season and that it will create "too many games for a college football player to play in," something that the Kelces, former Cincinnati Bearcat products, agreed with.
He also said he doesn't believe the further expanded CFP will "create that much more revenue" because expansion would create the loss of revenue from scrapped conference championship games.
Nick Saban takes shot at Notre Dame ahead of Miami showdown
Notre Dame vs. Miami in South Bend is shaping up to be the game of the weekend in college football – even with the Hurricanes no longer expected to have star wide receiver Malachi Toney, who is dealing with an ankle injury that will require a medical procedure and keep him out for an extended period.
Saturday's game carries major College Football Playoff implications for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish debuted at No. 11 in the selection committee's first CFP rankings on Tuesday, leaving Marcus Freeman's team with little margin for error as a one-loss program that has no ranked opponents remaining on its schedule after the Miami showdown. A loss would likely deal a significant blow to Notre Dame's playoff hopes, making Saturday a virtual CFP elimination game.
Saban praised Notre Dame's defense, which enters the top-10 showdown ranked first nationally in total defense (236.3 yards allowed per game) and tied for fourth in scoring defense (13.4 points allowed per game). He was far less complimentary of the Fighting Irish offense under CJ Carr, pointing to Notre Dame's Oct. 17 loss to BYU, its only game against a ranked opponent this season. The Irish fell behind 21-10 at halftime and weren't able to pull off the win at the end despite having a chance.
"Notre Dame hasn't been able to put it together in big games," Saban said. "They got guys wide (expletive) open in the BYU game and hell, I can throw it to them. If a guy is open by 10 yards, you don't have to make a perfect pass. Just get the ball to them."
Carr finished with his lowest completion percentage of the season against the Cougars, as he completed just 27 of 49 passes (55.1%) for 261 yards with no touchdowns.
Nick Saban is a one-and-done on podcasts
Saban, as he often does on "College GameDay" each Saturday and in his recent six-part "Saban" documentary series, delivered plenty of insightful analysis and thoughts during his 58-minute appearance with the Kelce brothers.
Will the seven-time national champion be adding podcasts to his weekly routine? Don't count on it.
"I don't do podcasts. I mean, this may be the second one I've done in my life. I refuse to do it, but my daughter loves you guys and she convinced me that I should do this, so I wanted to do it for you guys," Saban said. "But I just want to leave a message out there for everybody else: I'm not doing this (expletive) anymore."
The remark drew immediate laughter.
"We got it. We got the only one," Travis Kelce replied.
Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts and Spotify.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nick Saban blasts proposed 24-team CFP format on 'New Heights' podcast
