Alabama concluded the regular season with a 28-14 win in the Iron Bowl over Auburn. The Crimson Tide improved to 9-3 on the season and gave the College Football Playoff committee something to think about with a win.
Prior to rivalry weekend, Alabama needed some help from other teams to increase their odds of potentially reaching the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. That happened to an extent. The No. 6 Miami Hurricanes suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of an unranked Syracuse team. No. 12 Clemson lost a nail-biter against No. 15 South Carolina. Both losses will result in Alabama moving up at least one spot in the newest College Football Playoff poll. There is a chance that the Crimson Tide could move up multiple spots.
Now, the College Football Playoff field is set for the most part. There will be five conference champions that will be guaranteed spots in the College Football Playoff. There will be an SEC champion, an ACC champion, a Big Ten champion, a Big-12 champion, and the highest-ranked champion from a non-power-four conference.
The loser of the SEC Championship is virtually guaranteed a spot. The loser of the Big Ten championship will get a spot. Indiana is a one-loss team that suffered a loss to No. 2 Ohio State on the road. The Hoosiers will get in. Ohio State lost two games, but their losses are not enough for the playoff committee to leave them out. Tennessee will get in with two losses. Notre Dame will get in with one loss.
That leaves one spot. The teams left vying for the final spot are dependent upon the ACC Championship game in all estimation. A one-loss SMU team will take on a three-loss Clemson team. If SMU wins, Clemson will be eliminated. If Clemson wins, chaos ensues.
Alabama fans should be rooting for SMU. With an SMU win, the final spot will likely go to Alabama, Miami, or South Carolina. I tend to think that scenario would favor the Crimson Tide. Analytics and experts might say otherwise, but that is Alabama’s last hope at this point.
Alabama has three losses, but they also have three ranked wins and a head-to-head win over South Carolina. Miami has two unranked losses and no ranked wins. The logic says that Alabama gets the final spot in the College Football Playoff. Will that happen? We will have to wait and find out.
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Brody Smoot is a team reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “follow” him on X, via @brodysmoot.
