It's hard to imagine anyone who knows college football better than Nick Saban.

He has seven national championships — six with the Alabama Crimson Tide and one with the LSU Tigers — and also led the programs at Michigan State and Toledo.

That said, one of his former assistants and a current head coach still calls him up to argue.

Saban told "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday that Mario Cristobal, coach of the Miami Hurricanes, calls him up regularly to debate if the ACC or SEC is a better conference for football — or, as Saban puts it, "this ACC [expletive]."

“He’s always trying to convince me that the ACC is better than the SEC,” Saban said. “The SEC has nine teams in the (Preseason) Top 25. That’s all I know. It’s a deep conference. It just is.

“I know that the Big Ten is a really good conference and getting better when it comes to depth. It’s really great at the top with Ohio State and Oregon. But, anyway, it is what it is. He’s never gonna convince me. Never gonna convince me that the ACC is better than the SEC.”

Saban added that Cristobal, who served as offensive line coach under Saban at Alabama, is "the best salesman in the history of ball," making Saban's ability to withstand that sales pitch even more impressive.

And Cristobal has some evidence to back up his case. After all, it was his Hurricanes who were runners up to the Indiana Hoosiers in last year's College Football Playoff.

Despite nearly being left out of the field, Miami beat the Texas A&M Aggies and Ole Miss Rebels — both SEC teams — en route to that National Championship Game appearance.

That said, if you go team-for-team, the SEC still reigns supreme, as detailed by Daniel Hager of On3.

"As Saban touched on, nine SEC teams are present in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll (No. 3 Georgia, No. 5 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 11 LSU, No. 13 Alabama, No. 20 Tennessee, and No. 25 Missouri). Just three ACC teams, meanwhile, are present in the Top 25 (No. 7 Miami, No. 19 SMU, and No. 24 Louisville)," Hager wrote.

Perhaps Saban is sharing this anecdote to encourage SEC teams to step up their play this season.

If they don't, he'll be getting more calls from Cristobal.