Why Nick Saban thinks Alabama is being overlooked in 2026

As we ramp up toward the start of the college football season, a lot of attention is being spent on identifying national championship contenders and Heisman Trophy candidates. Analysts are making lists and rankings, deciphering who the biggest players are going to be when the College Football Playoff rolls around in December.

But ESPN's Nick Saban thinks that one team is being left out of the conversation. Unsurprisingly, it's his former team that he feels is getting the short end of the stick.

On Wednesday, Saban said that he believes the Alabama Crimson Tide and head coach Kalen DeBoer are "flying under the radar" going into the 2026 season, and that it could end up benefiting the team as a whole. When he was a coach for decades, he said this type of preseason coverage — or lack thereof — was helpful, because it kept the pressure at bay.

"I actually kind of liked that as a coach because when we were picked high, I always worried about how this is going to affect our offseason, our preparation, the culture you’re trying to develop as a team," Saban said on SEC Now. "Maybe Coach DeBoer really likes the fact that they’re flying under the radar a little.”

A lot of the focus in the SEC has been on teams like the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs, both of whom have higher betting odds to win the championship than Alabama. Then you have a team like the LSU Tigers, with Lane Kiffin at the helm, taking a lot of oxygen out of the room. This leaves Alabama in the passenger seat, which isn't a bad place to be, especially after the relative lack of success in the past couple of years under DeBoer.

Whether this lack of attention leads to any more productivity on the field in 2026 is yet to be seen, but according to Saban, it's something that can be used for positive gain from a coaching perspective. We'll see what DeBoer is able to do with it.

Contact/Follow@College_Wire on X and@College_Wires on Threads. Like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of college sports news, notes, and opinions. 

This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Why Nick Saban thinks Alabama is being overlooked in 2026