After a second loss of the season against the Tennessee Volunteers, many people considered the Alabama Crimson Tide’s Playoff hopes to be over. But Kalen DeBoer and company weathered the storm with back-to-back ranked wins and now Alabama looks like one of the scariest teams in the country.
With remaining games against Mercer, Oklahoma and Auburn, the Crimson Tide have put themselves in a great position to make the first 12-team Playoff. There is still a path for the Crimson Tide to get to Atlanta and compete for an SEC Championship, but more than likely, they will be an at-large team this year.
Getting the first-round bye will be a massive advantage, but a home Playoff game isn’t a terrible alternative. Andy Staples of On3 currently projects Alabama to qualify as the No. 7 seed where they would host the Indiana Hoosiers in the opening round. If the Crimson Tide can get past the currently undefeated Hoosiers, they would take on No. 2 Texas in the quarterfinals.
Games against Oklahoma and Auburn can’t be treated as automatic wins but with the way Alabama is playing right now there is a reason to feel optimistic about the Tide. Coming off of their statement win against No. 15 LSU Staples said,
“The 42-13 thrashing of LSU in a CFP elimination game served as a reminder that this Alabama team is still loaded even if it doesn’t have the same consistency it showed throughout the Nick Saban era. Jalen Milroe remains one of the nation’s most dangerous QBs.”
Staples projects Big 10 Champions Oregon to secure the No. 1 seed, with No. 6 Tennessee and No. 8 Ole Miss also qualifying.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.