​Credit: ESPNNick Saban should just save everyone’s time and say that only SEC teams should be allowed in the College Football Playoff.By all accounts, the College Football Playoff considers strength of schedule when selecting potential teams to include. The specific criteria have changed and evolved over the years, but there is a general understanding that wins and losses alone don’t tell the whole story.That’s not good enough for Saban, who has been on a mission since joining College GameDay to ensure that teams that play the toughest schedules get even more credit, especially when they lose those games.On Saturday’s edition of GameDay, Saban pushed back against a straw man he created in his head that apparently still devalues SOS and only values wins and losses.“I think what we’ve created now is a system of how many games you win helps you get into playoffs, and the playoffs become the barometer for the success of your program,” Saban said, via On3. “We need a better metric to actually evaluate quality wins and quality losses.”“Some losses are better than some wins,” he added.Here’s the thing: The CFP already did this, mostly because Saban and his ilk wouldn’t stop moaning about it. After 11-1 Indiana and 11-2 SMU made the CFP in 2024 over 9-3 Alabama and Ole Miss, the CFP introduced a new metric, known as record strength, to give more credit to a team that performed well against a tougher schedule. The metric was created to increase credit for wins over quality teams while reducing the penalty for losses against quality opponents. It also devalues wins over lesser opponents.If you were wondering why Saban is still crying about this topic (and who stands to benefit), he used an SEC team that got left out of last year’s playoff to drive the point home.“Like last year, Texas lost to Ohio State. Is that better than them beating Texas State?” Saban said. “I think there’s got to be some metric with the committee that evaluates those things a little better, so we get the best teams in the playoff.”Texas finished last season 10-3 and was left out of the CFP, which, along with Notre Dame’s snub, led to much teeth-gnashing, especially over the inclusion of Group of Five schools such as James Madison (12-1) and Tulane (11-2). Ironically, Alabama finished 10-3 and made the CFP, but that wasn’t good enough.This narrative push to devalue wins has been in the works with GameDayand other college football voices for a while, mostly to fill the CFP with as many traditional powerhouse brands as possible and keep out smaller schools and upstarts perceived to have benefited from easier schedules. GameDay, in particular, has dedicated many recent segments to this topic, which is amusing, as they’re also the same people who bemoan the idea of participation trophies.While it’s hardly necessary or smart, CFP expansion is almost certainly coming. The good news is that it’ll mean the three-loss and even four-loss SE