Heather Dinich weighs in on whether Alabama has path to the College Football Playoff
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Alabama has been a perennial contender for the national championship during the College Football Playoff era. One would be hard-pressed to find an observer who thought UA looked like a Playoff team in Saturday’s loss to Florida State, but ESPN is considering if the Crimson Tide could turn it around and make the CFP.
“They’re not going to have a path to the Playoff if they don’t play better football,” ESPN’s Heather Dinich said during a Sunday appearance on SportsCenter. “They got absolutely manhandled up front on both sides of the ball.
“When you look at Alabama’s Playoff chances, it depends on what Florida State does. This was a legitimate performance. This was not a fluke for the Seminoles. So when we’re weeks down the road and we’re looking back at this, did Alabama lose to a team that’s playing for the ACC title?”
Dinich noted that current projections aren’t too favorable for Alabama after the FSU loss.
“At Georgia at the end of September. Mizzou, Tennessee, South Carolina and Auburn. ESPN’s FPI gives the Tide less than a 50% chance to win each of those games,” Dinich noted. “If you look at that projection, this is a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-loss Alabama team? Paul, get your phones ready?”
Kalen DeBoer‘s team will look to bounce back in Week 2, as UA hosts ULM in the Crimson Tide’s home opener. Alabama hosts Wisconsin in Week 3 before traveling to Athens to face Georgia.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
