ESPN’s Heather Dinich says Alabama-Tennessee game has major CFP seeding implications
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The third Saturday in October has finally arrived, and with it also comes the annual showdown between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers.
The 2 hated longtime SEC rivals will meet for the 108th time on Saturday night for a top-15 clash under the lights of Bryant-Denny Stadium in a game that ESPN analyst Heather Dinich says will have some massive College Football Playoff seeding implications.
“If the Vols win, then this would catapult them off the (CFP) bubble, and into the conversation,” Dinich told Mike Greenberg on Friday morning’s episode of Get Up on ESPN. “For all the reasons that Jordan (Rodgers) just said, there are questions about this team, but if Alabama wins, it’s even bigger.
“Think about this: The selection committee does not hesitate to put a 1-loss team ahead of an undefeated team. This could be an opportunity for Alabama to move ahead of undefeated Texas A&M in the rankings, which means a top-4 seed and a first-round bye.”
There’s certainly a lot on the line for both the Tide and the Vols heading into this rivalry renewal, and these 2 squads have played each other extremely close over the past few years, with 2 of the previous 3 matchups coming down to a single possession.
Whoever ends up coming out on top this Saturday will have given themselves a leg up in the SEC standings and will have also made any potential path to the College Football Playoff much clearer heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
The first set of rankings from the CFP selection committee will be unveiled on Nov. 4.
