Let me stop you before you even start.

Yes, there’s a lot of Alabama on this list. A lot. If you think about it, that sort of epitomizes “devastating loss.”

A team can only be devastated when it gets expectations sky high, and then sees them crumble after 60 minutes with the Tide. An 0-8 team doesn’t get “devastated.” Teams competing for national titles that lose games to division rivals get devastated.

Don’t confuse this with a program’s most embarrassing loss. They can coincide (heads up Arkansas), but as a fan, you know the difference between being devastated and being embarrassed.

And for what it’s worth, I decided to stick to the Playoff era and not bump it out to 10 years because I feel like it’s too difficult to compare certain regular season/conference championship losses that happen without a potential semifinal game to play in. Like, I could come up with a really good argument for why the 2016 National Championship was actually more devastating for Alabama than the Kick 6. I won’t, but that’s my point.

Are we all good on the criteria? Good.

Here are the most devastating losses for SEC West teams during the Playoff era:

Alabama

Most devastating loss — 2016 National Championship vs. Clemson

One second. That’s all that stood in the way of Alabama from producing arguably the most impressive season in college football history. One Hunter Renfrow pick play — only half serious on that — was all that prevented Alabama from becoming the first team to ever go 15-0.

That Alabama team flat out torched people. Before Clemson, it only played in 2 games that were decided by 2 possessions or less. It outscored its 5 pre-national championship opponents by an average of 30 points. Everything was setting up for an Alabama repeat. A lot of people will tell you that Bo Scarbrough’s injury changed the course of history. I’d argue it was losing Lane Kiffin…and facing Deshaun Watson.

Either way, losing a national championship on the final play from scrimmage is about as devastating as it gets.

Auburn

Most devastating loss — 2017 SEC Championship vs. Georgia

Not all devastating losses happen because of some last-second play. Some are actually blowouts, but it’s what’s at stake that still makes them plenty devastating.

That was the case for Auburn this past season going into the SEC Championship. The Tigers were a game away from becoming the first 2-loss team to make the Playoff, which came on the heels of monumental victories vs. No. 1 Georgia and then No. 1 Alabama.

Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

But instead, the Tigers ran out of gas in Atlanta. Equally devastating was the fact that because of the loss, Auburn watched the 2 teams it beat play for a national championship. Opportunities like that don’t come around very often, and unlike 2013, Auburn failed to capitalize on its Iron Bowl victory.

Arkansas

Most devastating loss — 2015 vs. Toledo

I warned Arkansas fans. Embarrassing it was to lose to a MAC team at home. Well, sort of at home. It was at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, and there was plenty of buzz. The Razorbacks started Year 3 of the Bret Bielema era ranked in the top 25, and there was no reason to think that would be in jeopardy as a 21-point favorite in the Week 2 matchup.

But Arkansas’ comeback attempt came up short, and it was Toledo who took over Little Rock. Even worse, it was former Alabama quarterback Phillip Ely who led the charge for the Rockets. Bielema called the loss “embarrassing” for the fans who traveled. Perhaps it was an ominous sign for the Bielema era that Arkansas scored once in 5 trips to the red zone that day.

Needless to say, that was the last time Arkansas appeared in the top 25 in 2015.

LSU

Most devastating loss — 2015 at Alabama

Not having Alabama as LSU’s most devastating loss of the Playoff era would be like making Ed Orgeron sing alto in an Acappella group. It wouldn’t make any sense.

I went with the 2015 showdown because in typical LSU fashion, all that stood in the Tigers’ way of a Playoff berth was Alabama. The No. 2 Tigers had a chance to put themselves in the driver’s seat to a Playoff berth, and essentially put up a roadblock to halt Alabama’s path. But even with Leonard Fournette, LSU couldn’t do that. He was shut down, and as usual, Alabama’s defense stymied the Tigers’ predictable offense.

Derrick Henry took Fournette’s Heisman Trophy and Alabama took LSU’s Playoff chances. The Tigers were unranked just 3 weeks later after 2 more brutal losses. But it was the Alabama loss that took the wind out of LSU’s sail, and ultimately it was the last time that Les Miles got to face Nick Saban.

Mississippi State

Most devastating loss — 2014 at Alabama

Remember that time when MSU was No. 1 in America? Yeah, that happened. For like a month. The Bulldogs had the No. 1 spot heading into the middle of November before that all-important showdown at Alabama. If Dak Prescott could lead the Bulldogs to a win in Tuscaloosa, they were in prime position to earn a Playoff berth in the first year of the new system.

It wasn’t really as close as the 25-20 final score indicated — MSU scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left to make it a 1-score game — but it was still a devastating loss for MSU. Prescott atypically turned the ball over 3 times and couldn’t really get anything going until it was too late. It served as a back-to-earth moment that was a different kind of devastating.

“We should feel awful,” then-Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said after the loss. “You should have a sickness in your stomach. We should embrace this feeling to make sure that this feeling doesn’t happen again. We’ll feel sick tonight but then we’ll get over it.”

That didn’t happen. MSU’s best chance to win a national title all but vanished 2 weeks later in the Egg Bowl, but Alabama got the inside track to win the division and ultimately win the Playoff bid thanks to the win vs. MSU.

Ole Miss

Most devastating loss — 2014 vs. Auburn

The selection committee gave Ole Miss a mulligan for losing the week earlier at LSU. The Rebels were still ranked No. 4 in the Playoff poll heading into the Auburn game thanks to that monumental win vs. Alabama. They also controlled their own destiny to a division title.

But 1 devastating play changed all of that.

Ole Miss thought it took the lead in the final 90 seconds on a go-ahead touchdown from Laquon Treadwell. But pretty much the worse case scenario unfolded. Replay showed that Treadwell fumbled and Auburn recovered in the end zone. X-rays showed that Treadwell, Ole Miss’ best player, dislocated his ankle and broke his leg. Woof.

In case you don’t remember that play (via Steve Ackels):

The Rebels could’ve made that LSU loss look like a distant memory with a win vs. Auburn, and they could’ve been in line for a top-2 spot with just 2 SEC games left. That window vanished in a hurry.

Something tells me few plays are more painful for Ole Miss fans to relive than Treadwell’s fumble/injury.

Texas A&M

Most devastating loss — 2016 at Mississippi State

You knew it had to be a November game. November devastation to Texas A&M fans is like a summer afternoon thunderstorm to Floridians. You know it’s coming, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

This one takes the cake because the Aggies were the surprise of the first Playoff poll of 2016 when they were ranked at No. 4, despite the fact that they had the Alabama loss on their résumé and Washington was undefeated. So what did the Aggies do to prove that they were in fact properly rated by the selection committee? They lost to an MSU team that had just 1 Power 5 win to that point, though Trevor Knight’s injury was a big part of that. Still, the result was the same.

The road was set up really well for A&M, too. Had they been able to win in Starkville — the Aggies never led — they would’ve had just 3 home games to end the season (one of those matchups was against Texas-San Antonio). The Aggies would’ve been left out of the SEC Championship, though they would’ve been a fascinating case for the Playoff had they kept control of their season in the wake of Knight’s injury.

Ah, but November devastation always rears its ugly head in College Station.