Nick Saban Makes Some Questionable Comments About Big Ten In NIL Era

The 2025-2026 postseason could not have gone any better for the Big Ten Conference. After years of SEC dominance, the Big Ten established itself as the best conference in the country. SEC teams struggled, finishing 1-8 against non-SEC Power 4 teams, and 0-3 in the playoff against Power 4 teams. Then the Indiana Hoosiers became the third straight Big Ten team to win a title, while the SEC missed out on the championship game entirely over that timeframe.

It's to the point where even SEC boosters like Paul Finebaum have admitted that the Big Ten has passed up the SEC, upending the hierarchy in college football. That hierarchy was established in part by Nick Saban, whose Alabama Crimson Tide teams were a dynasty throughout the 2010's and into the COVID-lockdown influenced 2020 season. 

There have been numerous, shall we say, rumors as to how the SEC built up its dominance. Mostly involving some financial benefits that other teams or conferences were not able to offer. Particularly in combination with the inherent geographic recruiting advantages that come from playing in the South.

RELATED: Will SEC Keep Talking After More Big Ten Dominance?

What's changed, though? After all, many, if not most, top recruits come from states like Florida, Texas, and California. Well, Nick Saban has some thoughts on how the Big Ten has taken over. And they're pretty funny. 

Nick Saban on the ESPN College Gameday set during the 2026 Rose Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Rose Bowl Stadium. (Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Nick Saban Says Big Ten Benefitting From Financial Advantages

After years of rumors that SEC teams were paying players to keep them from leaving, Saban said on "The Pat McAfee" Show that it's the other way around. 

"In this day and age of the culture we have now in college football, paying players, name, image and likeness, transfer, it’s an advantage for the Big Ten," he said. "You’ll never convince me otherwise. The North. Because people in the South would not go to the North unless you paid them." 

Did he mean that to be tongue in cheek, poking fun at the SEC's reputation? Or does he seriously believe that's the reason the Big Ten has leveled the playing field, or tilted it in their favor? Either way, to some extent, he's right. It's hard to convince high school kids to leave, say, Georgia for Michigan or Ohio. But if they're getting a better offer in the Midwest, or an equal offer and a chance to play right away, that's hard to pass up. 

This has become a key factor in the transfer portal too. Curt Cignetti used the portal to revamp the Indiana roster heading into 2025-2026, including quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who wound up winning the Heisman Trophy too. Having the opportunity to leave without penalty has opened doors for backups at SEC programs to find starting jobs elsewhere. 

Especially now that everyone can pay.