The College Football Playoff rankings were officially revealed on Sunday answering the debate of who should get the final spot in the postseason between Alabama and SMU.
Despite the Mustangs last second loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, the Crimson Tide were not able to overcome its three loss season and were left out of the playoffs.
Shortly following the reveal, College Football Playoff chairman and Michigan athletic director Warde Maniuel, appeared on ESPN to explain the committee’s decision to bump out Alabama.
“We looked at the number of wins that Alabama had against ranked opponents,” Manuel said. “We looked at SMU’s schedule, and they were undefeated in conference. Their losses were to ranked teams. But we also looked at Alabama’s loss to unranked reams, and it was quite a debate.
“I mean, we value strength of schedule. That’s why Alabama, was a three-loss team, is ranked ahead of other teams that have two losses. It is something that we talk about quite a bit. But in the balance of it, in the way SMU played in that game, losing on the last second field goal, great win by Clemson, great game. We just felt that in this particular case, SMU still had the nod at 10 above Alabama.
“But it’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength of schedule. It’s merely looking at the entire body of work for both teams.”
Even with the significant difference in each team’s strength of schedule, Alabama was unable to overcome its three loss season which included two losses to 6-6 teams on the road against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma late in the year.
Kalen DeBoer’s squad will now wait to see which opponent and bowl game it will prepare for in the coming weeks.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
