Nick Saban Not Pleased With Proposed Permanent SEC Opponents for Alabama Under New Format

With the conference expanding in 2024, the SEC scheduling for football will once again change, and the Alabama head coach wants more balance in the permanent opponents.

With Texas and Oklahoma set to join the SEC in 2024, the conference will once again have to change its scheduling format as the league expands from 14 to 16 teams. 

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban revealed who the Crimson Tide's three permanent conference opponents could be if the league decides to move to a nine-game conference schedule. 

"I’ve always been an advocate for playing more [conference] games,” Saban told SI. “But if you play more games, I think you have to get the three fixed [opponents] right. They’re giving us Tennessee, Auburn and LSU. I don’t know how they come to that [decision].”

Currently the SEC is divided into two divisions in football (East and West), and every team plays eight conference games each season: six against the division, one permanent and one rotating opponent in the opposite division. So in the present format, Alabama plays all six SEC West teams each season plus Tennessee and one rotating opponent from the East. 

When the league expands, it could stay with eight games, but the divisions would be no more. It would be just one permanent opponent with seven rotating. If it moves to a nine-game schedule, each team would have three permanent opponents and six rotating. 

According to the report from SI, the conference used factors like primary and secondary rivalries, geographical footprints, balance and parity to choose the three permanent opponents. To determine the balance and parity portion, they used a 10-year metric of success. 

“They said they did a 10-year whatever,” Saban said. “Well, some of those years, Tennessee wasn’t as good as they’ve been in the previous 10 years, but now they are as good as they used to be before those 10 years.

“We got three teams and two of them are in the Top 10 and the other is in the Top 10 a lot,” Saban adds. “Look historically over a 25-year history, and the three best teams in the East are Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. You look historically at 25 years, Alabama, LSU and Auburn are the three best teams in the West. So we’re playing them all.”

Saban has been an advocate for tougher scheduling for years, already trying to get the SEC to expand to nine conference games a season. Alabama has also added extra Power Five opponents to its schedule in the coming decade. This season, the Crimson Tide will host Texas (who will still be part of the Big 12) and play a road game at USF. 

But the Alabama head coach wants there to be more balance between who each team has to play if it moves to the three permanent teams model. Tennessee has been down for the last decade, but traditionally been one of the top teams in the SEC East. Alabama, Auburn and LSU are the traditional top schools in the West. Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia are the only current conference schools to win national titles in football since the BCS/CFP era started in 1998. (Oklahoma won in 2000 and Texas in 2005.)

"They only did it over 10 years,” Saban told Sports Illustrated. “Now you’ve got name, image and likeness, which changes that whole dynamic, because it’s who has the most money to pay players, until they change the rules. I like playing more SEC games. I think it’s good for the game and good for the fans. I think they have a better chance to get the parity right doing the eight games. I’m talking about the balance of who has who.”

See also:

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Texas, Oklahoma Joining the SEC in 2024

How Brandon Miller's Final Home Game Became Part of Alabama Lore