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Heather Dinich went on SEC Football Final and discussed what possibly will be the hottest topic in college football over the next week.
Maybe make that the most controversial topic as we barrel toward Selection Sunday: Will a 3-loss Alabama team sneak its way into the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff or will the Crimson Tide be left out in Kalen DeBoer’s first season?
Alabama took care of Auburn on Saturday to finish off a rocky 9-3 regular season that included road losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide also had quality wins over Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri and LSU, so there’s that to consider.
Dinich’s projected Playoff rankings currently has Alabama on the outside looking in, with SEC champion Texas, Georgia and Tennessee making the field. But Dinich also believes that some Championship Weekend chaos could rock the boat a bit going into Selection Sunday and be just what Alabama needs to get a berth after all.
“It would require Clemson to beat SMU (in the ACC Championship Game), SMU to fall out (of the 12-team bracket), and Alabama to move in,” Dinich said during an SEC Network appearance. “Because right now, Alabama is my 12th-ranked team, but they would be bumped out of the College Football Playoff because Arizona State would be the 5th-highest-ranked conference champion and knock the Tide out.
“This goes back to the conversation of who the committee’s top 3-loss team will be, and I kept it Alabama, (followed by) Ole Miss (and then) South Carolina.”
'Twas a wild finish to November in college football @CFBHeather joins @ESPNDari to discuss expectations for the newest CFP rankings and which SEC teams make the playoff pic.twitter.com/wQmnWgw6aN
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 1, 2024
Alabama did beat South Carolina head-to-head in a close one, prevailing 27-25 back in October in Tuscaloosa right before the Gamecocks took off on a 6-game win streak to end the regular season. Alabama did not play Ole Miss this season, and Ole Miss beat South Carolina, 27-3, in Columbia — again, right before the Gamecocks turned into a buzzsaw to close the regular season.
As far as Alabama is concerned, it’ll be a nervous next week in Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide have no control of their Playoff fate.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
