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Kalen DeBoer says Alabama’s strong schedule ‘wasn’t rewarded’ by CFP selection committee
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Kalen DeBoer told reporters Sunday night he was “certainly disappointed” to see Alabama left out of the College Football Playoff. He said Alabama felt like it deserved to be in the field. That echoed a statement released by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne earlier in the day.
The Crimson Tide (9-3) were vying for one of the final at-large spots in the 12-team field. When it was all sorted, Alabama was the first team out of the bracket. Clemson’s win over SMU in the ACC title game made the ACC a 2-bid league and knocked the Crimson Tide from the bracket.
In the face of disappointment, Byrne said Alabama would need to “assess” the way it goes about scheduling nonconference games in the future.
“That’s something I’ll let Greg lead the charge on,” DeBoer said when asked about it Sunday night.
Alabama played nonconference games against Western Kentucky, South Florida, Wisconsin, and FCS Mercer this season. USF finished 6-6. Wisconsin finished 5-7.
“We have said that we would need to see how strength of schedule would be evaluated by the CFP,” Byrne said. “With this outcome, we will need to assess how many P4 nonconference games make sense in the future to put us in the best position to participate in the CFP. That is not good for college football.”
Alabama is scheduled to play Wisconsin at home and Florida State on the road next season. It’ll play Florida State at home and West Virginia on the road in 2026. The Crimson Tide have future home-and-homes lined up with Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and Arizona, among others.
The SEC was deep this season and it lacked the clear-cut elite that has dominated the league in previous years. That meant there were more losable games on the schedule for everyone in league play.
Alabama’s contention seems to be that if those losses are going to be treated the same as a loss to a mid-tier ACC or Big 12 team, the natural counter is to play a consistently weak nonconference schedule.
DeBoer said that’s not something his staff wants to do.
“I know we’ve got some higher-profile games against programs that traditionally have been very successful. We want to be a part of that. We want that to happen. That’s the exciting thing about college football, is being in as many big games as possible,” DeBoer said. “We don’t want to back down to that. We want to be a part of it and that hopefully will be rewarded down the road.”
“It definitely wasn’t rewarded, it felt like.” – Kalen DeBoer when asked if he thinks the College Football Playoff committee valued Alabama’s strength of schedule and whether that will influence non-conference scheduling going forward#RollTide #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/k3AHccuCVM
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) December 9, 2024
As the SEC lobbied for teams to get into the CFP, strength of schedule was often cited. Per ESPN’s FPI, Alabama played the 18th-toughest schedule in the country this season. Only 1 Playoff participant (Georgia) played a tougher schedule, by FPI.
(South Carolina played the 13th-toughest schedule. Missouri, Tennessee, and Ole Miss were the only SEC schools that didn’t have a top-25 SOS.)
“We want to play competitive games. We want to play in the best games. That definitely wasn’t rewarded, it felt like,” DeBoer said.
It is fair to point out, however, that strength of schedule can only make up for so much when a team is consistently losing to that schedule. The Crimson Tide suffered one of the worst losses of any of the Playoff hopefuls, losing 24-3 to Oklahoma in Norman on Nov. 23. Had Alabama won that game, it might not be in the position it is today.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
