Where ESPN’s College Football Playoff expert predicts Alabama will be ranked on selection show

Nov 29, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Alabama defensive lineman James Smith (23) celebrates his sack of Auburn quarterback Ashton Daniels (12) at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News

ESPN College Football Playoff expert Heather Dinich feels Alabama football will make the playoff as the No. 10 seed after losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship.

Dinich has the Crimson Tide taking on Texas A&M in the first round of the playoff on the road. She predicts the winner of the game will take on Ohio State in the second round of the playoff in a major bowl game.

Alabama currently has an 82.8 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff after losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship, according to ESPN’s FPI.

The Tide had a 97 percent chance to make the playoff before the game. Kalen DeBoer made his pitch to the committee after the Tide lost to the Bulldogs.

“If this game applies to and takes away from our resume, I don’t think that’s right,” DeBoer said. “I really don’t. I think the precedent been set, and I don’t know how you can go into a conference playoff game when you’re the number one seed and did all these things throughout the year, playing in this game against one of the top teams in the country as well, how that can hurt you and keep you out of the playoff, when again we’ve done what we’ve done all year.”

The selection show will announce the bracket on Sunday at 11 a.m. CST. It will be broadcast live on ESPN.