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Nick Saban: Scheduling Only FBS Teams Is ‘Better’
Nick Saban says that scheduling only FBS teams is "better for the fans and the players."
November 18, 2015
Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide have been dominant as usual this season with a 9-1 record. The Crimson Tide are not only eyeing an SEC title game berth, but also another crack at the College Football Playoff.
A win over rival Auburn on Thanksgiving weekend and Alabama is assured a date in Atlanta against the Florida Gators, with a likely playoff berth on the line.
But while the talk around the “Yellowhammer State” is centered around the annual “Iron Bowl,” there’s still one game left in between now and that classic college football rivalry.
The Tide hosts Charleston Southern on Saturday for what should be another easy win for a team contending for a title. However, if Saban had things his way, Alabama would never play schools from the FCS.
“It’s better for the fans and the players,” Saban said on only scheduling teams from the FBS.
This isn’t the first time he’s spoken out about his dislike for playing FCS programs. He voiced his frustration last year, too.
“We can’t just call people up and say we want to have a game. It’s not like setting up a golf game. I call three of my buddies and say ‘You want to play Sunday morning. Can you play? Then everybody says yeah, I can play’,” Saban said.
“You ever try to schedule a game? Do you know what goes into that? And it’s very difficult to do home and home with quality teams. And there’s only certain teams, to be honest with you, you almost have to buy games to get people to play you. Outside of the neutral site game we do and our conference games, we struggle to schedule three other games.”
The Tide is scheduled to host the Chattanooga Mocs on Nov. 19, 2016.
Saban doesn’t have to like it, but he’ll probably take the easy wins.
