Look away Alabama fans, Nick Saban picks hated rival to win CFP National Championship

After a long offseason, college football is officially back. This Saturday was Week 0, where fans had four games to tune into throughout the day before the big weekend seven days from now. Even with the minimal games on tap, fans were able to watch ESPN's "College GameDay," which was also the debut of former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban as an analyst.

During the first episode of the season, Saban's fellow panelists were asked to give their predictions for every Power Five conference champion and the national champion. When asked who he thought would win the CFP National Championship, Saban said the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama's hated rivals.

"I still go with the fact that somebody has got to prove that they can beat Georgia," said Saban.

Ex-Alabama head coach Nick Saban picks Georgia to win CFP National Championship

That's got to sting for Crimson Tide fans.

When Saban was asked by Kirk Herbstreit who he thought would play Georgia in the CFP National Championship Game, the head coach said the Oregon Ducks.

For those curious for the other panelists' picks, Pat McAfee joined Saban in selecting Georgia, while Herbstreit and Desmond Howard chose Oregon. Special guest picker and WWE superstar Sheamus selected the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win it all.

Saban also provided his pick for the new expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, where he picked Georgia to be the No. 1 seed and have a first-round bye. Don't worry, Crimson Tide fans, Saban did include Alabama in the Playoff, as the No. 7 seed, where they would host No. 10 Notre Dame.

The Bulldogs missed out on the Playoff last season after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. With that, Georgia's chances of a three-peat came to an end. Even with the amount of talent leaving for the NFL, such as tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Ladd McConkey. But, Georgia is still a recruiting powerhouse, and their roster is stacked.

As for Alabama, they had a ton of turnover after Saban's sudden retirement. Replacing Saban is Kalen DeBoer, who led the Washington Huskies to the CFP National Championship Game last season. Even with the turnover, Alabama is still set to be one of the top teams in the SEC.

But when it comes to who will prevail at the end of this season, Saban needs to see more from the other teams to show if they have what it takes to beat Georgia.