Alabama players don’t want to put playoff hopes in someone ‘else’s hands’

Alabama football is preparing to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game with its playoff hopes on the line.

The Crimson Tide will have an argument to make the playoff if it was to lose against the Bulldogs, but its chances to make it could be quite slim. The only way Alabama can 100 percent secure an automatic spot is by winning the game and being one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.

Alabama’s players are well aware of the situation they found themselves in, but they do not want to leave their fate in the hands of a committee. Tim Keenan III, who is a veteran defender for Alabama, was asked Monday if he felt the Tide should go in no matter the outcome of the conference championship.

“We’re a 10-2 team in the SEC,” Keenan said. “We go out and we play hard. Of course, it’s the SEC Championship, it’s a big deal. We’ve already beat this team before. We going to go out there and make sure we do the same thing. But we going to make sure we handle business on our own end and not leave it up to the committee to make decisions for us.”

Fellow captain and Alabama linebacker, Deontae Lawson feels the same way Keenan does. He responded to a similar question on Monday.

“We know that we don’t want to put it in no one else’s hands,” Lawson said. “Just control what we can control, and that’s doing our best to win the game, leave nothing up for chance.”

Kalen DeBoer was approached with a similar question after the Tide defeated Auburn in the Iron Bowl. He answered by saying it would blow his mind if Alabama was left out the playoff if it lost in the SEC Championship.

“We’re 7-1 in the SEC, and I mean that would blow my mind, but I know what you’re getting at,” DeBoer said. “That’s crazy, and I’m not saying your question is crazy, but just that would be unreal. We’re 10-2 and 7-1 in the SEC with all these ranked wins and again, like, some wins on the road. We got more than a playoff-caliber football team. There’s not a question in my mind.”