The Iron Bowl has always been one of the biggest college football games of the year. It’s one of the sport’s most notable rivalries that often influences the SEC West race and, consequentially, the national championship hunt.

That was all true until this year, said ESPN College Football Insider Brad Edwards. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Edwards called this year’s Iron Bowl “the first casualty of the playoff.”

Edwards claimed Alabama, which has already locked up the SEC West, can lose this year’s Iron Bowl and still earn the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff with a win in the conference championship game. The Crimson Tide is the only remaining undefeated Power 5 team.

That wasn’t the case before last week, when Auburn blew its shot at the division crown by losing at Georgia. After a few weeks of increasing hype, the Iron Bowl has gone from the de-facto SEC West championship game to just the Alabama state championship game.

Either way, the No. 1 Crimson Tide (10-0, 7-0) will still host the No. 15 Tigers (7-3, 5-2) in the 81st Iron Bowl on Nov. 26.