Nick Saban: Texas and Oklahoma make SEC ‘stronger than ever’

More than a handful of head coaches said they view Southeastern Conference media days as the unofficial start of football season. Yet, nearly each of them heard a similar question concerning 2024.

What do Oklahoma and Texas bring to the SEC? On Wednesday, it was Alabama coach Nick Saban’s turn to answer.

“Oh, I think it’s a great addition to the SEC. You have two great programs that have great traditions that have great fan support. I think it just continues to sort of -- the map of the SEC, it is stronger than ever. I think the competition is going to be -- it’s always been difficult. It’s going to be even more challenging because you’ve got two really, really good programs who have consistently, if you look at the past, have been, you know, top 10 programs for a lot of years, won national championships,” Saban said at the Nashville Grand Hyatt.

The Crimson Tide has gotten a sneak preview of one of the new members. Last fall, Alabama rallied late in the fourth quarter for a 20-19 win via a game-winning field goal. The Longhorns will be back in Tuscaloosa in the newly named Allstate Crossbar Classic on Sept. 9 in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

In 2024, Alabama will travel to Oklahoma as one of the Sooners and Longhorns will play each SEC program. It will also play Georgia and South Florida at home along with traveling to Wisconsin and Auburn.

“I think with the new scheduling that we’ll have in the future, it’s more good games for fans, more diversity in who you play,” Saban said. “So there’s a lot of positives about it. From a coaching standpoint, it’s going to be much more challenging to be able to compete week-in and week-out. I think when you look at the SEC, the thing that separates it is not the top, but the depth, how many good teams there are.”

On Monday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed a report that the 2024 media days will be at the Omni Hotel in Dallas.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com