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Nick Saban Names College Football Team He 'Always Roots For'

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Escarpio | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 1:52 PM ET

The ESPN "College GameDay" crew is back for the 2025 season, featuring a panel of Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Rece Davis.

Saban and the rest of the panel were in Norman, Oklahoma, for a matchup between the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners.

While all eyes were on that matchup, they also covered several other top games of Week 2, including a contest between a historic Big Ten program and an emerging ACC team.

In Week 2, the Michigan State Spartans will take on the Boston College Eagles.

When reviewing the game, Saban mentioned that he's always rooting for the Spartans, given his ties to Michigan State, having previously coached at the Big Ten school.

"I'm always rooting for Michigan State," Saban said. "I was really surprised Boston College was a 4.5-point underdog. I'm going to take Boston College [to cover the spread]."

Saban previously served as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Michigan State from 1983-87. After a couple other career stops, he returned as head coach of the Big Ten program from 1995-99.

Saban led Michigan State to a 9-2 record in 1999 before taking the head coaching job at LSU, where he won the first of his seven national titles. The other six championships came during his 17 seasons as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In Week 2 of this college football season, Saban will have his eyes set on the Spartans, who are set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff that can be seen on NBC and Peacock.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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