Greg McElroy breaks down how a loss to Oklahoma would impact Alabama in CFP race
By Luke Greco
Published:
Greg McElroy believes a home playoff game and a first-round bye are on the table this weekend as Oklahoma takes on Alabama.
The 11th-ranked Sooners travel to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday to take on the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide. With a win over Alabama, Oklahoma would climb in the CFP rankings and move much closer to safety in the chase for an at-large bid.
“So, I think if that were to go down, Notre Dame would be jumped immediately by Texas and Oklahoma, and I could also see a scenario where they jump Oregon as well,” McElroy said on his show, Always College Football, on Wednesday.
Notre Dame is currently ranked No. 9 in the CFP rankings, and Oregon is ranked No. 8. This means that McElroy believes a win this weekend would jump Oklahoma into the top 8 and give the Sooners a chance to host a home playoff game.
But what would such a result mean for Alabama?
“They [the selection committee] are not all in on head-to-head,” McElroy said. “It’s not the end-all, be-all. In this scenario where Oklahoma beats Alabama, does it mean that Oklahoma, absolutely with 100% certainty has to be in front of Alabama? Perhaps in previous committees that would have been the No. 1 differentiator.
“This committee, with what we’ve been shown, it’s not necessarily a guarantee that that’s the case.”
McElroy said Alabama is still “comfortably” in the field if it loses, but a win would put the Tide in a great spot to host a first-round game or bypass the first round entirely.
