I am taking this from a pay board, which I never do. But in this one instance, I thought the argument was too fascinating and not of any real subscription content, just Fanboy opinion piece

Steve Spurrier coached UF for 12 seasons... Nick Saban has coached Bama for 11 seasons.

Spurrier's winning percentage against SEC foes was 88%... Saban's is 85%.

Spurrier won the SEC East 9 times... Saban has won the SEC West 8 times.

Spurrier won the SEC Championship 7 times... Saban has won it 7 times.

WOW! Amazingly similar.

Only difference? "National Championships"... because Saban coaches in a DIFFERENT ERA where four teams make it to the Playoffs... and the teams are decided by computers and experts... not solely on the basis of 11-0 records that were acheived by playing ridiculously weak regular season schedules.

Let's look back:

1990 - Gators are on probation (but not for anything Spurrier did) an finish the regular season 9-2 with the only losses being to two Top 10 powerhouses (Tennessee and FSU) on the road. In today's era, they would have then gone on to the SEC Championship Game and clobbered #15 Ole Miss in front of a National TV audience. Would this 10-2 team have been one of the best 4 teams in the eyes of a Playoff Committee?
The other choices were:
10-1-1 Colorado (who tied Tennessee , lost to Illinois and CHEATED to beat Mizzou on 5th down)
10-0-1 Georgia Tech (who tied N.C. and beat horrible ACC teams before FSU was in ACC)
9-2 Miami (Lost to BYU and Notre Dame but beat FSU)
9-2 FSU (who beat UF)
9-2 Washington (Lost to Colorado and Notre Dame)
9-2 Notre Dame (Lost to Stanford and Penn State)
SO... under today's conference system...
Colorado would have played Washington in the Pac-12 game (one gets eliminated)
Ga Tech would have played FSU in ACC Game (one gets eliminated)...
so UF getting in the Final 4 Playoff would have been VERY CLOSE with 5 teams fighting for 4 spots (just like it was for Bama this year).

1991 - Gators were 10-1 with their only loss on the road to #17 Syracuse. They would have played in the SEC Championship Game against #5 Bama (who Spurrier had already beaten 35-0 that season), so they would have finished 11-1 and CLEARLY IN the Final 4 Playoff.

1993 - Gators finished 10-2 (only losses on the road to Auburn and at home to #1 FSU) and thumped Bama 28-13 in the SEC Championship. Would this have helped UF get back into the Top 4?
The other choices were:
11-1 FSU (who beat UF but lost to Notre Dame)
10-1 Notre Dame (who beat FSU but lost to Boston College)
11-0 Nebraska (beat Oklahoma)
9-1-1 Wisconsin (tied Ohio State)
11-0 West Virginia (Beat Miami)
SO... under today's conference system...
FSU would've had to beat bitter rival Miami in the ACC Championship Game to stay in
Notre Dame had a bad loss and no conference game
Nebraska or Wisconsin would have played in Big 10 Championship Game
West Virginia would have played Oklahoma in Big 12 Championship Game
So depending on who lost in those games... it would be VERY POSSIBLE for UF to get into the Final 4.

1994 - Gators finished 10-1-1 with a thrilling victory over 11-0 Bama in the SEC Championship. UF had a very close loss to #6 Auburn and a tie with #7 FSU. They were ranked FIFTH heading into the Bowls, but Nebraska and Penn State would have played each other in the Big 10 game and eliminated someone... so the prediction is that UF was CLEARLY IN the Final 4.

1995 - Gators CLEARLY IN the Final 4. What if that Nebraska team had played someone else and lost in the Semi-Finals? Hmmmmm?

1996 - Gators CLEARLY IN the Final 4.

1997 - Gators went 9-2 in regular season (losses the Top 10 LSU and Georgia) and failed to make it to the SEC game... but were ranked #6 headed into the bowls.
10-1 FSU would have had to play #7 UNC in the ACC title game
11-0 Michigan and 12-0 Nebraska would have played in Big 10 game
11-1 Tennessee was in but the Gators had BEATEN them 33-20
Michigan-Nebraska winner may have stayed in the Top 4.
So while it wasn't likely... UF MIGHT HAVE been in the Final 4.

1998 - Gators were 9-2 with only losses to #1 Tennessee in OVERTIME and to #5 FSU on the road. Gators missed the SEC championship game and were ranked #7 heading into the bowls.
The other choices were:
12-0 Tennessee was in
11-1 FSU would have had to play #12 Georgia Tech in ACC game
11-1 Kansas State was coming off a LOSS in Big 12 game
11-1 Ohio State would have played #9 Wisconsin in Big 10 game
11-1 Arizona would have had to play #8 UCLA in Pac 12 game
So while you never know...UF MIGHT HAVE been in the Final 4.

2000 - The Gators were 10-2 and won the SEC Championship game over Auburn. They were ranked #7 heading into the bowls.
The other choices were:
11-1 FSU
10-1 Miami
12-0 Oklahoma
10-1 Washington
10-1 Oregon State
10-1 Virginia Tech
Oklahoma was in
FSU would have played Miami or Va Tech in the ACC game
Washington would have played Oregon State in the Pac 12 game
It probably wouldn't have happened... but UF MIGHT HAVE been in the Final 4.

2001 - 10-2 Florida lost only to Auburn on the road and Tennessee in the reschedule 9/11 game. They missed the SEC championship game but were ranked #5 heading into the bowls since they had been #1 for a good part of the season.
The other choices were:
11-0 Miami
11-1 Nebraska
10-1 Oregon
10-2 Colorado
10-1 Maryland
10-1 Illinois
9-3 LSU won the SEC Championship game
10-2 Tennessee lost the SEC game
Miami and Maryland would have played in ACC
Nebraska and Illinois would have played in Big 10
Oregon and Colorado would have played in Pac 12
UF was ranked AHEAD of LSU and Tennessee... so once those other teams eliminated each other... UF was VERY PROBABLY IN the Final 4.

So for Spurrier's 12 season... if things had been like they are now... *Especially if UF was getting the SEC bias boost that Bama is getting...

UF would have been in the College Football Playoffs anywhere from 6 to 10 times!!

And let's also point out that if UF had NOT had to play a VERY TOUGH FSU (2 time National Champs) Out-of-Conference opponent every year... just like Bama does NOT do this...

it would be virtually CERTAIN that UF would have been in NINE college football playoffs in a 12 year span.

GOOD LORD.

I had forgotten how damn good Spurrier was and how bogus the National Championship games were back when nobody other than UF played any tough regular season games.