As Alabama prepares to take on top-ranked Georgia in the SEC championship, the Tide sits four spots away from where they need to be to make the College Football Playoffs. ESPN argues the team has every right to be upset.
The lone loss in the 2023 regular season came at home against Texas, which ranks just one spot ahead of the Crimson Tide in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
The frustration is not necessarily about being ranked behind Texas, but that programs like Ohio State and Oregon are both ranked above them.
David Hale of ESPN recently put together the College Football Playoff ‘Anger Index‘ (subscription required) and has the Tide and Longhorns both at No. 1.
While making the argument that Alabama and Texas have a right to be upset, Hale points out that the Ducks have a weaker resume than both programs and that the Buckeyes are sitting pretty at No. 6, despite the fact that they lost their rivalry game to end the season. It doesn’t help that there has never been a team ranked higher than sixth to ever make the playoffs.
“It’s certainly possible that, should Bama or Texas add the all-important ‘conference champion’ label to its résumé, the committee will see to adjusting these standings,” writes Hale. “But it’s also possible the committee sees a delicate issue of an Alabama-Texas debate (the Tide are red hot, the Horns hold the head-to-head win) and has decided to take a note from Iowa and punt on it altogether, as it did in 2014 when it ignored the thorny Baylor-or-TCU debate in favor of … Ohio State!”
For the time being, all Alabama can do is focus on Georgia. All of these points are moot and the arguments over resume mean nothing if the Crimson Tide fails to defeat the Bulldogs, which would just further cement Georgia’s place as the top-dog (pun intended) and that Alabama would have a second loss on the season.
These conversations will all soon be a thing of the past as the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams beginning in 2024 and the new format will change the way teams are selected.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the postseason begins this weekend.
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