Nick Saban, undoubtedly, wasn't trying to produce a viral moment.
Days after his Pat McAfee Show appearance in which he blasted comments attributed to him in an upcoming book, Saban was breaking down the Southeastern Conference -- his former dominion -- in his first time co-hosting ESPN's College GameDay.
"If you look at everybody's schedule, Missouri has the easiest path to get in the (SEC) Championship game," Saban said last Saturday. "Georgia has one of the toughest paths to get in the Championship game."
Of course, the "easiest path" in the SEC might reflect the hardest schedule in myriad other conferences.
Wednesday on the SEC's weekly coaches teleconference, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz was asked about Saban's comments -- though the question labeled Saban as having alleged an "easy" schedule for Missouri.
"If you're calling going into (Texas) A&M, Alabama, going to South Carolina, going to Mississippi State, playing home games versus Auburn and home games versus Oklahoma easy, I mean, sure," Drinkwitz said. "But I don't really get caught up in comparisons, and I sure don't get caught up in the rat poison out there."
Missouri faces three teams ranked in the preseason top-25 polls, with Oklahoma being the only of those three opponents the Tigers will welcome into Faurot Field. They're at No. 20 Texas A&M the first weekend of October and visit No. 5 Alabama the final weekend of that same month.
Auburn also is receiving votes in the AP's preseason Top 25, but the season-ending trio of at South Carolina, at Mississippi State and home against long-time rival Arkansas isn't considered particularly daunting.
The Tigers' non-conference schedule is thin, with FCS program Murray State visiting Thursday night in the Racers's first season under former SEC assistant coach Jody Wright while also getting a visit from Buffalo and former South Carolina special teams coordinator Pete Lembo.
The only non-conference game against a Power 4 program is Boston College, the ACC member breaking in first-year coach Bill O'Brien.