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Penn State's firing of coach James Franklin was a move that reverberated throughout college football, and championship coaches Nick Saban and Ryan Day are the latest to react. The Nittany Lions, who owe Franklin a hefty buyout, ranked second in preseason polls after reaching last year's College Football Playoff semifinal. Penn State logged five top 10 finishes under Franklin.

"It's unfair as hell," Saban said on College GameDay. "For you to go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, get in the final four, come out and being ranked No. 1 this year ... an expectation you created, by which you accomplished at Penn State. And for those people not to show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for all the hard work that you did, I'm saying, it's unfair."

Seated next to Franklin on set, Saban asked him if high-end expectations before the year played into his team's lackluster start.

"I think, Coach, you understand this better than anybody, right? You've used the phrase rat poison," Franklin said. "The negative is rat poison that you've got to get everybody to tune out and the positive is rat poison. That creates a ton of pressure, pressure we've earned. We've created that pressure.  And I think that's the thing I'm most proud of, the point that you said. When I took over the program 12 years ago, it was in a very different situation than it is now. That's something I take great pride in."

Ohio State coach Ryan Day, who went unbeaten against Franklin, described recent changes in college football and the return on investments needed. 

"To say the amount of money we make nowadays doesn't play into it would be naive," Day said Saturday on CBS Sports HQ. "That really plays into it. We sign great contracts. There's a lot expected on us, so we have to perform. But at the end of the day, what we have to make sure we focus on is our people. It's the coaches in the building and their families, but more importantly, it's our players. Winning just allows us an opportunity to continuing having an impact on people. that's why you get into coaching.

"We can't lose focus on that, as hard as that is. The amount of pressure that can come on all of us, it's easier to lose that type of focus. But we cant. To me, that's what it's all about. Easier said than done."