Everything has seemed to have been working against Alabama all season long. From losing key players to injury, freshmen getting asked to learn on the fly and now losing its biggest game of the regular season to LSU at home it may be easy for some to brush off this team and look towards next season.
But Alabama fans should not give up yet for there is a chance that Nick Saban’s team will have a lot to play for down the stretch. Perhaps even a chance at making another return to the College Football Playoff.
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As unlikely as it may sound, and it will surely require a fair share of outside help, there is a shot nonetheless where Alabama finds it’s way back into the top four and competing for a title.
1. Oregon and Utah must implode
Although the committee has shown little respect towards the Pac-12 in the past, this season there are two legit teams with a shot to get in. With both schools ranked at six and seven along with the loss to Penn State, if there is a one-loss champion of this conference they will surely have a great chance to get it. But the west coast batch has gotten looked over in the past for a reason and it’s because of the number of bad teams that find ways to win. All season long the conference has seen teams like UCLA, USC and Arizona State steal victories from the higher-ranked teams in the conference.
What Alabama should hope for is for Oregon to drop its game at Arizona State on Nov. 23 since that will be its hardest game remaining in the regular season. Following that the Ducks would have to beat Utah in the Pac-12 championship giving the conference a two-loss champion. In other words, they will be eliminated from contention.
2. Oklahoma loses at Baylor but beats them in the Big 12 Championship
Jalen Hurts has been one of the best stories college football has had in recent memory. But the former Alabama quarterback will have to drop another game in order to help out his old teammates. Oklahoma has had a lot of close calls recently even almost losing last Saturday to Iowa State which came down to the last play of the game. So when the Sooners travel to McLane Stadium next Saturday, they may be in for quite a tough game. Despite Baylor having some close calls themselves over the last two games, the Crimson Tide will hope for the Bears to step things up a notch when Lincoln Riley brings his team to town.
With Baylor beating Oklahoma in the regular season, that will give them two losses on the season essentially eliminating them from playoff contention. But they’d need to quickly bounce back for the title game and beat the undefeated Bears on a neutral site. Even in Baylor has one loss, the committee will likely not be in favor of putting in a team who just lost in their conference championship.
3. LSU and Ohio State both win their conferences by wide margins
Ohio State destroying Minnesota in the Big Ten championship will only thwart the idea that they deserve a chance at being ranked ahead of Alabama at all this season. Especially the way the Gophers beat Penn State last Saturday, it’d prove that there is a significant gap between the elite teams and the rest of the pack. LSU blowing out the rest of the SEC will show the committee that Alabama is still among the best in the country because of how close their game was. Sure the Tigers led the entire game but the list of the Crimson Tide’s self-inflicted wounds throughout the game was just as impactful as Joe Burrow’s play. Having a loss be the best part of your resume isn’t ideal, but it’s what Alabama has to work with and will need to own it.
4. Alabama wins out convincingly
No more letting up 200-yard rushing games, no more letting up 30 points to unranked teams. Alabama must take care of business against the rest of the teams on its schedule. Especially at Mississippi State and Auburn. Both will be hostile environments and can not be slept on now that things may be looking grim for the tide. Auburn will likely end up being Alabama’s best win should that happen and will also help fend off the Oregon Ducks since their loss came at the hands of Bo Nix and Gus Malzahn. Adding a big win at Auburn may even be enough to hold off even a one-loss Pac-12 champion Oregon but it wouldn’t be favorable to roll the dice on that.
BONUS: Auburn beats Georgia on Saturday
It’d help Alabama greatly if it was to get even more help from it’s greatest rival. The more impressive of a resume Auburn comes into the Iron Bowl with, the more it can help the tide if they can pull out a big win. Georgia has already shown to have struggled to put up points and have looked vulnerable to the point where they lost a game at home to South Carolina. Auburn has proven to be much better than the Gamecocks, even holding LSU to 23 points on the road.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
