Nick Saban Not Happy With SEC's Proposed Alabama Schedule

Alabama may have the SEC's toughest three-game permanent opponent schedule

SEC officials are currently looking to decide whether to move to a nine-game conference football schedule or stay at eight games once Texas and Oklahoma join the league, and in theory Nick Saban is in favor of making it nine.

That new schedule would be different from the divisional slate, where teams play six or seven set teams each season. Instead, each school would be assigned three permanent annual rivals.

But the Alabama head football coach isn't happy with the three teams he's hearing he'll have to play every year: all rumors indicate those rivals will be Tennessee, Auburn, and LSU.

Nick Saban discusses SEC football schedule plans

"I've always been an advocate for playing more [conference] games," Saban said to Sports Illustrated.

"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]."

All three are historic Alabama rivals dating back generations, but Saban feels it's an unfair disadvantage to have to play the SEC's best every season.

A difficult schedule

"They said they did a 10-year whatever. 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," Saban said.

He added, "We got three teams and two of them are in the top 10 and the other is in the top 10 a lot.

"Look historically over a 25-year history, and the three best teams in the [SEC] 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."

(SI)

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