Nick Saban strongly doesn’t believe the Big Ten is as deep as the SEC. And he has specific schools he believes have been overhyped: the Penn State Nittany Lions, USC Trojans, and Illinois Fighting Illini, to name a few.
Saban deemed the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, and Indiana Hoosiers the “great” schools in the conference while defending the SEC against the B1G superiority claim by AJ Hawk on Friday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. He left the door open for the Michigan Wolverines to be in that group.
“I don’t think the Big Ten is really that deep. It’s not like the SEC where you got eight or nine teams that can beat you. There might be three or four teams in the Big Ten that can beat you,” Saban said.
“Deeper by what? By who? I mean, Penn State? I mean, tell me the good teams. Maybe Michigan. Well, we’ll see tomorrow (about USC). They’re alright, but alright is not really what I’m talking about. I mean, you think USC is going to beat Ohio State? You think that would be a game if they played, really?
“You have Oregon, Indiana – legit, so far. And we’ll see how legit Indiana is probably tomorrow. I mean, Illinois got beat like a redheaded stepchild, you know, down at Indiana, so are they legit? I mean, c’mon. Ohio State is great.”
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Nick Saban still has love for the SEC
Saban told Hawk that the SEC is still a deeper and superior conference, naming the Alabama Crimson Tide, his former team that he won six national championships with, the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, Missouri Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, and Ole Miss Rebels.
“A&M is pretty good, Georgia is pretty good, Ole Miss is pretty good. Alabama has got a chance. Missouri has got a chance. I mean, there’s a lot of good teams. Tennessee is pretty good,” Saban said.
Notably missing was another of his former teams, the LSU Tigers. As were the undefeated Oklahoma Sooners, who are projected by sportsbooks to lose the Red River Rivalry game against the Texas Longhorns.
You can take the man out of the SEC, but you can’t take the SEC out of the man.
