Nick Saban wanted West Virginia in the SEC instead of Missouri

Sorry Missouri, Nick Saban didn’t want you.

No, he wanted the SEC to give West Virginia the league’s coveted 14th spot after adding Texas A&M.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia grad, former governor and friend of Saban’s, told the Charleston Daily Mail that he and Saban were “working toward that.”

“I thought we could have been in the SEC,” Manchin told the paper. “I talked to my dear friend Nick Saban about that, and, like me, he said, ‘I would like West Virginia in the SEC,’ and we were working toward that.”

The Charleston Gazette mentioned something similar in October, when the SEC was still going back and forth over whether Missouri was the right fit for the league. Of course, the SEC ultimately chose Missouri in early November and the Tigers will join the league in the summer.

“They chose Missouri instead,” Manchin said, “and then you never heard a thing else about it.”

It’s interesting that everyone thought Missouri was a slam dunk for the 14th spot when in fact that might have been far from the case. There’s no doubt that usually when Saban talks, the league listens. But, apparently, the league thought it knew better.

Tagged with: SEC Expansion

Filed under: NCAA College Football news • SEC News

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