After surviving Auburn in four overtimes on Saturday, Alabama enters this weekend’s SEC Championship Game with only one loss.
The Crimson Tide were ranked third in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings, and should remain in the top four when the new standings are released tomorrow night. However, that doesn’t mean they have much, if any, margin for error.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich, who covers the College Football Playoff, said Alabama’s “window is shrinking” to make the field with two losses. There has never been a two-loss team in the seven-year history of the playoff.
“The reality is that window is shrinking,” Dinich said on SEC Network earlier today, via Saturday Down South. “I say that because the selection committee’s biggest question, literally as we sit here today and they’re meeting right now is probably what to do with Alabama. Do they drop them to No. 4 behind Cincinnati? What do they think of them as a College Football Playoff contender at this moment, so I think that will help answer this question on Tuesday.”
If Alabama does lose to Georgia in Atlanta on Saturday, Dinich said that their best bet to still make the CFP is if chaos ensues. This would entail Iowa beating Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game, Houston upsetting Cincinnati in the AAC or Baylor beating Oklahoma State in the Big 12.
“If that happens and Alabama loses a close game, then yeah, maybe we are reviving that conversation,” Dinich said. “But based on how they’ve looked … are they an elite team? That’s a question the committee has to answer, and don’t forget, if Alabama doesn’t win the SEC, they have to look at their protocol and be able to say that Alabama is unequivocally one of the 4 best teams in the country.”
A 41-38 loss at Texas A&M on October 9 is the only blemish on Alabama’s record this year. However, Nick Saban’s team had close calls against Auburn, Florida and LSU, all of whom finished 6-6, and only beat 8-4 Arkansas by a touchdown.
Of course, the surest way for the Tide to take the decision out of the committee’s hands is to beat Georgia this weekend. It won’t be easy to do though, as the Bulldogs are 12-0 and have looked like the best team in the country all season long.
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