College athletics could be affected by conference realignment. The time is 1:45.
Mega conferences may be something that we all have to deal with in the future, according to Alabama coach Nick Saban.
USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten. The Longhorns and Sooners left the Big 12 for the SEC a year ago.
The realignment may not be in the best interest of college football as a whole, according to Nick.
"Mega conferences will create more of a caste system, maybe, in college football, and everyone has to decide if that's the direction we really want to go or not," the Alabama coach said.
Depending on who you are, that is either a good or a bad thing.
"We are one of the haves at Alabama," he stated. I think it's a good thing. It may not work out for some of the have nots.
The players are able to make money from name, image and likeness deals. The consequences of collectives using promises of NIL earnings to lure recruits to certain schools has been pointed out by Nick.
He started a war of words when he said that Texas A&M bought every player in its top class. Jimbo Fisher held a hastily set-up news conference the next day in which he called the comments "despicable" and insisted that no rules are broken.
At the SEC spring meetings in May, the two were able to speak, and that's why he shouldn't have made a point of it. At SEC media days, the Tide coach said he had no issues with Fisher and that he took his words to heart, but he also talked about the lack of guardrails when it comes to NIL and how it has helped to create a competitive balance issue.
How does this affect recruitment? "I told you Tuesday." A lot of people on the recruiting trail are using this as an incentive to go to their school if they can't keep up with what they're doing.
Everybody in college football can't do these things because of how they raise money. How do we place guidelines around this so that we can maintain a competitive balance is one of the issues that I have.
Alabama's recruiting has remained strong despite his objections as NIL has entered its second year. In February, the Tide signed the second-ranked class in the country, and have signed five of the top 100 players.
Several key positions have been filled with the help of players in the transfer portal.
Running back Brian Robinson Jr., offensive tackle Evan Neal, defensive back Jalyn Armour-Davis, receiver John Metchie, and receiver Jameson Williams are no longer with the team. The Tide brought in a pair of All-SEC defensive backs from LSU and Georgia Tech, along with a pair of veterans from the SEC in Georgia wide receiver and offensive lineman.
The quarterback who won the award last year, and the one who led the country in sacks and tackles for loss, are both back.
"To have two players that make such a significant impact on our team as those two guys, I don't recall ever having that situation in my life," he said. We have had some great impact players, but never one on offense or defense of that caliber.
The season opener for Alabama will be against Utah State. The Longhorns will be playing the Tide in Texas next week.
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