Former Alabama and current ESPN College GameDay talent Nick Saban isn’t on board with the “psychotic” nature of some Ohio State football fans, and had no issue putting those thoughts into words on the Pat McAfee Show this week.
It’s one of the most fun times of the year, and in some cases, the most nervous time of the year too, because it’s Michigan Week for Ohio State football fans. Buckeye fans enjoyed a significant tilt to the rivalry during the Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer years, but now, OSU is in the midst of a four-game losing streak to the Wolverines that seems to have conjured up ghosts of John Cooper’s past Michigan nightmares.
And while this week can be one of cautious optimism and hope — despite Ohio State having the better team — there is more beyond The Game, especially in the day and age of a 12-team College Football Playoff. Look no further than Ohio State’s run to a CFP national title last season after losing to the Wolverines for proof.
But some Buckeye fans — in fact, a surprisingly large population of them — will still tell you that beating Michigan is more important than anything else that the OSU football program can do, even winning the ultimate prize.
Saban wasn’t having any of that.
“I said it last year. These Ohio State fans, they’re all psychotic about this, man. They all need to go see a doctor someplace,” Saban said. “I’d rather win the national championship than beat Michigan. That’s just me. Although I’d love to beat Michigan, don’t get me wrong.”
Maybe you can discount what some guys say because sometimes it’s just for controversy and on brand, but we’ve seen Saban be a pretty unbiased and reasonable voice on the GameDay set (unlike the guy sitting on the far left that has his ringtone set to “Hail to the Victors”).
It’s not the first time Saban has criticized Ohio State fans for their do-or-die approach to the game vs. Michigan. He said similar things about the fanbase in the midst of the Buckeyes’ run through the College Football Playoff last year as well.
“These Ohio State fans, you know, they got a psychotic obsession with Michigan,” Saban said then. “And they need to go get therapy or something to try to get it fixed because they have a chance to win the national championship. And here you are, you know, nobody is excited about their opportunity to play because they lost to Michigan.”
So, how do you approach a game of this magnitude then? When asked about how he approached the Iron Bowl vs. Auburn when at Alabama, the other contest often compared to The Game, Saban said he didn’t make it out to be more than what it was.
“I tried to minimize the noise, knowing that the players are hearing all these things,” Saban said. “What I wanted our players to do is think that it’s gonna be about what we do. So let’s focus on what we do to have to go execute and play our best football in the game, and things will take care of themselves.”
Ohio State head coach does seem to be taking a different approach this year and making it more of a routine, yet still embracing what it is. That’s more on par with what Saban did at Alabama, and maybe, just maybe, some Buckeye fans will also embrace that mindset.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Nick Saban critical of Ohio State fans when it comes to Michigan
Reporting by Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
