Part of Nick Saban’s readiness for the weekend ahead, which is College GameDay, is appearing live on The Pat McAfee Show on location. This week, that was Norman, Oklahoma, and Saban talked Friday about a multitude of topics, riffing on the failed Bryce Young experiment in Carolina and some SEC opponents.
Saban covered his bases, including unnerving Skip Bayless. That’s not exactly hard to do, but how he got there wasn’t talking about the Dallas Cowboys, LeBron James, or Caitlin Clark. Instead, it was taking a swipe at the now ousted FS1 host’s alma mater —Vanderbilt University.
The Alabama Crimson Tide head coach wasn’t trying to be mean, but rather honest. He said the only place in the SEC that’s not hard to play in is Vanderbilt, acknowledging that the opposing team’s fans usually outrank Vandy’s.
“The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play in is Vanderbilt. When you play at Vanderbilt, you have more fans there than they have.”
– Nick Saban on @PatMcAfeeShow pic.twitter.com/4V0LkKf35c
— Billy Derrick (@billyderrick10) September 20, 2024
As he often does, Bayless videoed himself responding to Saban on X (formerly Twitter). There didn’t appear to be a rhyme or reason, but now that he doesn’t have the platform that is Undisputed, relegated to his podcast for now, he uses his social media account like you’d expect Skip Bayless to.
It should be noted that Bayless didn’t think Saban was wrong
“Okay, Nick Saban just stated the obvious. My school, Vanderbilt, is the easiest place to play at in the SEC in football — not in baseball, not in golf, but in football,” says Bayless. “I give you that because these football factory juggernauts with these huge, traveling fanbases, yeah, they’ll probably have more fans, buyout tickets at Vanderbilt than we’ll have at football games.
“But, hey, when it comes to academics, when it comes to quality of education, the rest of the SEC isn’t even in our league! When it comes to admission requirements, my school, Vanderbilt — the best school in America — is slumming to be in the SEC with the Alabamas of the world; it actually makes me ashamed.”
Naturally, Bayless couldn’t help but pivot to a different scoreboard — academics. It’s a classic SEC rivalry in its own right: on the field, Alabama dominates, but in Bayless’ world, Vanderbilt reigns supreme in the classroom.
Maybe the real win depends on which game you’re playing.
