MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — SEC coaching legend Nick Saban warned everyone years ago that collegiate football was headed for free agency with its decision to relax transfer rules.

Saban, speaking at the SEC Spring Meetings at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Hotel on Tuesday, said a lack of standardization will lead to more disparity in a sport that Alabama, and now Georgia, dominates.

The Tide and the Bulldogs have combined to win five of the past eight CFP Championships, with Georgia the current two-time reigning national champion.

“I made the statement years ago and I got very criticized for it, is this what we want college football to become?” Saban said. “So now it’s kind of becoming that, and I don’t think it’s going to be a level playing field because some people are showing a willingness to spend more than others.”

Saban, who has won seven national championships (six at Alabama), said somewhat ironically that imbalance is not good for the sport.

“What we have now is we have some states and some schools are in some states that are investing a lot more money in terms of managing their roster than others, and I think this is going to create a real competitive disadvantage for some in the future,” Saban said.

“And it’s also going to create an imbalance in the competitive nature of the sport, which that’s not good for the sport.”

Saban suggested that college football could follow the lead of the NFL

“Unionize it, make it like the NFL,” Saban said. “If it’s gonna be the same for everyone, I think that’s better than what we have now.

“If you want to bring the NFL into it, they have a salary cap, they have all the things that level the playing field. And we could put guidelines on some of this stuff that would do the same thing.”

Saban, however, said college football is not supposed to be set up like professional sports.

“People say it’s a business — it’s not a business — it’s revenue-producing,” Saban said. “When I was the coach of the Miami Dolphins, Wayne Huizenga owned a team. That was a business. He took a profit he made money, he made a huge investment. That doesn’t happen in college athletics.

“So we’re not talking about the same thing… all the money gets reinvested in other opportunities for other people, whether it’s facilities, whether it’s scholarships, whether it’s opportunities for people to play.

“And if we continue down this road, are we going to be able to continue to have those opportunities I think those are all good questions that somebody probably ought to answer.”