Legendary Coach Nick Saban Picks Utah as a Top Seed in the College Football Playoff

The start of the 2024 college football season is officially here, and legendary head coach Nick Saban was a special guest on this week's edition of ESPN's College Gameday in Dublin, Ireland. One segment of the show was showcasing each panel member's 12-team CFP bracket predictions, and Saban along with a few others picked Utah to be among the top 4 seeds.

Based on the layout of the former Alabama HC's predictions, the Utes would face off against either Liberty or Texas in the quarterfinal matchup.

On3's Thomas Goldkamp broke down Saban's bracket and the potential matchups that could result after the first round of the tournament.

"The new-look Big 12 could be won by a newcomer, with Utah predicted to win the league in their first year, according to Nick Saban’s playoff predictions. The Utes have veteran starting quarterback Cam Rising back and have hit the transfer portal hard to give him some weapons to throw to. Meanwhile, the defense has typically been very stout," Goldkamp said.

"That should make for an interesting matchup against whoever wins the Texas vs. Liberty game. Utah would likely be an underdog against Texas due to the talent discrepancy, while you figure they’d have to be favored over Liberty. Either way it would be a fun quarterfinal matchup," he continued.

Joel Klatt had Utah as one of the top seeds in this year's college football playoff bracket, ranking them as the 3rd seed, while Dan Mullen also projected Utah to be one of the top seeds in the competition as he projected the Utes to win the Big 12.

If Saban's projections were reality, it would provide an entertaining game for both sets of fans whether it be Utah vs Liberty or Utah vs Cam Rising's old-school Texas, and it would give Utah a genuine shot at moving on to the semifinals in their first-ever college football playoff appearance.

Related: Utah's Five-Star WR Target Jerome Myles Torches IMG Academy In Monumental Upset