Nick Saban has a gripe that's certain to annoy Tennessee Vols football fans

Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is holding on to a gripe from the 2022 season that's certain to annoy Tennessee Vols fans.

Saban, who has never been shy about politicking, is still upset that Alabama wasn't included in the College Football Playoff in 2022 after going 10-2 during the regular season.

During the SEC Network's broadcast of SEC Media Days this week, Saban said he still has a "pet peeve" that Alabama was left out of the playoff in favor of TCU.

"I still have a little pet peeve about we didn’t get in [the 2022 playoff] and TCU did," said Saban. "And Kansas State beat them, and we beat Kansas State by 25 or 30 points in the bowl game. Who had the better team?"

The final College Football Playoff rankings in 2022 had Alabama ranked at No. 5, just outside of the top four.

Tennessee, despite beating Alabama during the regular season and finishing with the same record (11-2) as the Crimson Tide, was ranked No. 6 in the final playoff rankings in 2022.

Vols fans were enraged at the time that Tennessee didn't get the benefit of the doubt over Alabama (the Crimson Tide also lost to LSU in 2022, a team that Tennessee destroyed in Baton Rouge).

If there was a team that deserved to get in over TCU, it was Tennessee (TCU had just one regular season loss and they beat Michigan in the semifinals of the playoff...it's not like they were undeserving, even though they were destroyed by Georgia in the championship game).

Saban's belief that Alabama deserved to get in over an SEC team that the Crimson Tide lost to during the regular season (that finished with the same record) just makes absolutely no sense at all. Sure, the Vols had a really bad loss against South Carolina near the end of the season, but their other loss was to Georgia, the eventual national champs. How can Saban still think that Alabama deserved that spot over a Tennessee team that beat the Crimson Tide and also beat LSU, the other team that beat the Crimson Tide?

The fact that Saban used Alabama's win against Kansas State as evidence as to why the Crimson Tide should've made the playoff, by the way, is hilarious (again, the same would apply to a Tennessee/Alabama debate since the Vols beat LSU and the Tide lost to the Tigers).

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what Saban thinks. But it's a reminder as he begins his post-coaching career at ESPN that he's still delusional at times.

Related: Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava working with a QB guru during the offseason that's worked with some big NFL names