A dour man now faces a situation in which he has to go on a charm offensive, and, judging from this first volley, it’s gonna take a lot of effort on his part.
“I think this team deserves an opportunity to get in the playoff by what they’ve been able to accomplish and what they’ve been able to do,” Saban said after the game. “Certainly not maybe in this game, but I think the team we played tonight is a very good football team, probably one of the best teams in the country.
“They won 11 games, and not many teams are able to do that. I really don’t know what all the scenarios might be where we’d have an opportunity to do it, but I’d certainly like to see this team get an opportunity to do it.”
I mean, really, is this what Nick Saban returned to college football for?
If it doesn’t work — and you’d have to think that if Auburn wins its rematch with Georgia in the SECCG, Alabama’s chances are pretty much toast — which of these alternatives seems the most likely course of action for Nick to take?
- (a) add a full-time PR staff to the support army Saban already has at his disposal to work the media and selection committee non-stop; or
- (b) begin lobbying hard for the playoffs to expand to eight teams
I’m leaning towards (c) both. Saban is nothing if not thorough.