Nick Saban says even AI would have 'one hell of a time' deciding CFP field
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Over his 28 years as an FBS head coach, Nick Saban racked up 297 victories and won seven national championships.
But even for him, the task that awaited the College Football Playoff selection committee Sunday was quite the tall task.
As the committee debated which combination of Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami should get the final two at-large spots in the 12-team field, Saban succinctly summed up just how difficult of a challenge awaited the group of administrators and others around the sport who decide who gets to compete for a national championship.
“If we had AI, they’d have one hell of a time trying to figure out what this committee is trying to figure out with these last three or four teams,” Saban said.
More than three-quarters of the playoff field were largely set, with conference champions Indiana, Georgia, Texas Tech, Tulane and James Madison earning five automatic berths in the event. Ohio State, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Oklahoma made it in as well.
From there, it got tricky.
Three-loss Alabama not only didn’t fall from the bracket, but also remained at No. 9, despite its 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship game.
Notre Dame and Miami, both 10-2, were idle in the final week of games. But it was the Hurricanes, however, who got the nod after being ranked behind the Fighting Irish in each of the prior iterations of the CFP top 25 rankings.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nick Saban says even AI would have ‘one hell of a time’ deciding CFP field
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