Can Alabama secure a first-round BYE in CFP without making SEC title game?

Alabama football looks to be in a great position to make the 2026 College Football Playoff after defeating the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge.

The Crimson Tide is currently ranked No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings. In the current playoff format, the top four teams will receive a BYE regardless of whether they win their conference championship.

There is a chance the SEC ends the regular season with several teams with two losses in conference play. Alabama, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee each have two SEC losses already. None of them play one another during the remaining three weeks of the season.

If Georgia wins out, it will likely play one of the teams previously mentioned in the SEC Championship game. The way Georgia’s potential opponent would be determined depends on who finishes with two losses. For example, if Alabama and Kentucky are the only SEC teams that finished with two losses, the Tide would get the nod over the Wildcats after Alabama beat Kentucky earlier this season, but if Tennessee and Alabama are the only two-loss SEC teams, the Vols would get the nod over Alabama after the Vols beat the Tide last month. In other scenarios, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas or Alabama could be playing Georgia in Atlanta next month if the Bulldogs remain undefeated.

However, if Georgia loses, a whole other list of scenarios comes into play.

Either way, Alabama could end the season 10-2 and not make the SEC Championship. According to the latest update on the AllState Playoff Predictor, the Tide would have almost an 80 percent chance to get a first-round BYE if it finished 10-2 and did not play in the SEC title game.

The next three weeks in the SEC are sure to be quite interesting.