Nick Saban tells Pat McAfee ‘I don’t think the Big Ten is really that deep’

As College GameDay heads to Eugene, Oregon, for a big-time Big Ten showdown between the Oregon Ducks and Indiana Hoosiers, longtime Alabama head coach Nick Saban fired a shot across the conference’s bow.

Saban made his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday before the two settled into their usual spots behind the GameDay desk, and the legendary head coach did not mince words when it came to his thoughts on the Big Ten’s lack of depth and great teams.

“I don’t think the Big Ten is really that deep,” the seven-time national champion said. “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.”

“Alright isn’t what I’m talking about 😂😂

Ohio State is great but I’m talking about the depth in the Big Ten..

There’s a lot of good teams in the SEC”

Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/jrN6HyQKv2

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 10, 2025

When McAfee and co-host AJ Hawk playfully pushed back on Saban, saying that the conference has expanded and is therefore deeper, he doubled down.

“Deeper by what? By who?” Saban asked. “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?”

Naturally, while taking the Big Ten down a peg, Saban also used it as an opportunity to talk about why the SEC is so much deeper.

“You have Oregon, Indiana – legit, so far. And we’ll see how legit Indiana is probably tomorrow,” Saban continued. “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.

“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.”

Perhaps Saban has a point, especially in the wake of Penn State’s downfall and Illinois’s loss at the hands of Indiana. However, he’s also very bullish on several SEC teams that have their own blemishes. Whatever stock you put in the AP Poll, it currently has five Big Ten teams in the Top 25, three of whom are in the Top 10, while the SEC has nine squads in the Top 20 and eight in the Top 15.

No one’s ever going to expect Saban to pull for the Big Ten over the SEC, but he might be in for a rude welcome on Saturday from Oregon and Indiana fans now.

And on a more serious note, there’s also the inescapable reality that ESPN and the SEC have a media deal together. As such, there will always be a concern about bias from their college football personnel, regardless of how legitimate their critiques might be.