If you have watched any college football this season, then one thing that you have likely realized is that the SEC seems to be a bit tougher top-to-bottom than you might’ve remembered in years past.
Well, former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban commented on this recently when asked a question on the parity of playing in the SEC this season as part of ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” this past Friday afternoon, saying:
“I think there’s more parity in the SEC because I think players want to come to the SEC,” Saban said. “So, the system that we have now allows more players with more experience and proven quality to be able to come to the SEC. In other words, it doesn’t have to just be recruiting.”
Saban also gave his thoughts on how this coming down to player acquisition, in particular the differences between recruiting high school players and the transfer portal, adding:
“Now you take a team like Ole Miss, and I think Lane’s done a great job there so I’m not being critical in this, but he’s actually used the portal to his benefit to be able to have a top-notch team. Other teams use recruiting like Georgia, they are still going to recruit. Alabama’s going to recruit. They’re going to use the portal some, but not as much, so that helps some of the teams that weren’t quite as good get better quickly so that they can compete with those top-level teams. I think the Big Ten, you’re going to see some of that, but I think those two conferences, because of the strength both those conferences have, they’re going to have a little bit of an advantage in this new day and age that we’re living in.”
Altogether, it certainly appears so far that the SEC is a more talented conference overall this season, especially at the top of the league. Is what Saban said a big reason as to why?