Nick Saban believes attention on the playoff diminishes interest in other bowl games. (USATSI)

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the first season of the College Football Playoff brought, in his words, "what I feared most" in college football. With so much hype and attention on the four-team playoff, Saban feels like there was "minimized" interest in the rest of the postseason.

"I learned what I feared the most would happen," Saban told AL.com while at a golf tournament in Birmingham. "All the attention, all the interest would be about the four teams in the playoffs, which is exactly what happened, which was great to be a part of.

"But what I was most fearful of is college football is unique. A lot of young men get a lot of positive self gratification from being able to go to a bowl game and that's always been a special thing. That by having a playoff we would minimize the interest in other bowl games, which I think is sort of what happened and I hate to see that for college football."

That comment began circulating immediately, but there was another quote from AL.com that stood out from his critique. 

"Maybe we need to go one way or the other," Saban said. "Either have bowl games or have playoffs but not try to have both."

In terms of Nick Saban characters, this quote seems to be in line with the "Is this what we want football to be?" Saban. The playoff is not only in place for good, but the bowl season is expanding. While Saban is pitching an all-or-nothing approach, our hunger for college football has only led to further expansion of the postseason. 

Some argue this has watered down the product but I don't hear any players complaining about more opportunities to have that bowl game experience that Saban referenced above.