Nick Saban asked if heâs a Texas fan in terms of CFP rankings; His answer requires geometry

Nick Saban was asked on Thursday if he is “kind of” a Texas fan.

The Alabama coach gave a vintage Saban answer, but you might need to brush up on your geometry for this one.

“On Friday, I put a circle on the board, then I put a smaller circle inside the circle, then I put a rectangle inside the second circle,” Saban told “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN. “And I colored it in red. And I said, ‘This is what matters. What happens on the field. All this grey area between these circles, that’s all the external noise and all the external things you can focus on and think about that’s not going to help you play better. It’s not going to help us get what we want to get. Let’s focus on what we do on the field.’

“So, if I’m telling the players that, I’m telling you the same thing.”

For context, the Longhorns went into Tuscaloosa earlier this season and beat Alabama in Week 2 and now stand No. 7 in the College Football Playoff standings. That’s one place ahead of Saban’s Crimson Tide. The thinking is that the better Texas does this season, the better the loss is on Alabama’s resume.

“I don’t really think a lot about that stuff because if we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, if we don’t take care of business in terms of the next three games that we play, if we are fortunate enough to get into the SEC Championship Game, try to take care of business in that game, none of it really matters,” Saban explained.

“To focus on each day, each hour that you have and to have gratitude for the fact that you have an opportunity to do it and be in that situation – and that’s the way our players look at it as well – I think that’s what we try to stay focused on.”

Not to would simply be another example of rat poison. Or worse yet, relief syndrome, something he had to “straighten out” Miss Terry about as she started looking ahead to Auburn.

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 Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.