Paul Finebaum was taken aback a bit during his Friday show when one pundit declared Nick Saban “scared” and his Alabama program “decaying” in the midst of the SEC’s decision to stay with an eight-game conference schedule for 2024.

Perhaps what surprised the SEC Network analyst was the way Michael Bratton of That SEC Podcast just kind of matter-of-factly dismissed Alabama’s coach – and his program – as an entity fighting to hold on to something that will inevitably be lost.

“It looks like Nick Saban is afraid of the competition,” Bratton said Friday on “The Paul Finebaum Show.” “He’s running for the hills because Kirby (Smart) and Georgia are taking over the SEC.”

Saban, who has for years been an advocate of the nine-game conference format, seems to have softened his stance. In May, it appeared it wasn’t the number of games but who the Tide would be playing that was the issue.

“I’ve always been an advocate for playing more (conference) games,” Saban told SI in March. “But if you play more games, I think you have to get the three fixed (opponents) right. They’re giving us Tennessee, Auburn and LSU. I don’t know how they come to that (decision). …

“We got three teams and two of them are in the top 10 and the other is in the top 10 a lot. Look historically over a 25-year history, and the three best teams in the East are Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. You look historically at 25 years, Alabama, LSU and Auburn are the three best teams in the West. So we’re playing them all.”

Bratton called Nick Saban’s views short-sighted, claiming “maybe he was hoping to escape those top-tier programs facing his decaying Alabama program.”

“Look, I think there’s good and bad in both,” Saban said Friday at a dedication for his Nick’s Kids Foundation’s 20th house, per On3. “I know that there are some issues going to nine games in terms of the future schedules that we’ve put together in terms of trying to play two Power 5 schools each year to go along with the SEC schedule.

“So I think eventually we’ll probably move to more involvement and more SEC games, but I think this just happened so quickly, it was really hard to make a lot of changes that fast, to be honest with you. Whatever it is, we’re excited about the opportunity and the challenges. It’s a tough league, so we’ll play enough really good games against really good teams. Whether we play eight or nine, we’ll just adapt to it.”

Bratton’s point is the SEC will move forward without divisions, and the Tide will lose tough conference games with Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Arkansas. Potentially, those may be replaced with Missouri and Vanderbilt. He believes it will all even out.

“To me, it’s just another sign there’s fear in Nick Saban’s voice,” he said.

A surprised Finebaum was speechless after Bratton’s point, needing a second to collect his thoughts.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Music App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.