Nick Saban Names One College Football Conference With 'Advantage' Over SEC

When it comes to college football, success and the SEC have practically been synonymous.

Dating back to 2000, the SEC won 14 of the 26 championships that were awarded. If you were to factor in Texas and Oklahoma, which were each a part of the Big 12 during their title seasons in 2005 and 2000, the SEC has claimed 16 of the past 26 championships.

Of those 14 championships, a Nick Saban-coached team won seven, as he won a title at LSU in 2003, and an additional six while coaching at Alabama. Despite the conference's dominance of the sport, the Big Ten has seemingly found some recent momentum, with Michigan winning it all in 2023, and Ohio State winning last year's title game.

To some, these two seasons could be considered an anomaly, but to Saban, he thinks it's a sign of the times. When appearing on the "Pat McAfee Show" on Friday, Saban revealed that the emergence of NIL has rendered old advantages held by programs in the South practically useless.

“I think that the SEC was the SEC because of the culture in the South," Saban said. "There wasn’t professional football in the South for a long time, and everybody related to the colleges. Well, now that doesn’t matter,” Saban added. “I mean, kids grew up wanting to go to LSU, Alabama and Georgia. Got the money now. They don’t mind going to Ohio State. They don’t mind going to other places. 

“So, that geographic advantage that the Southeast Conference may be changing a little bit now, with the different culture, with NIL and the money involved in decision-making. I think that’s created a bit of an edge for the Big Ten.”