With only three games left to go in the regular season, teams are beginning to turn an eye to the post-season to see where they might be bowling this year. The College Football Playoffs will be expanding from four teams to 12 after this season which is going to drastically change the way bowl games are perceived, so this may be the final year of the bowl season as we know it.
As for the Alabama Crimson Tide, it is nearly impossible to predict where they will be this post-season. With only three games left in the year Alabama is 8-1 with multiple ranked wins over LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee. If they can win their final three regular season games and beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game they would be all but a lock to make the playoffs. If they lose any of those four games they will not be in the playoffs – it’s as simple as that. Alabama has continued to get better by the week, and they don’t even feel like they same team that lost at home to Texas on Sept. 9.
Not everyone shares my optimism for Alabama to reach the Playoffs though as ESPN released projections for all 43 bowl games (subscription required). Mark Schlabach predicts that Alabama will take on Penn State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl while his colleague Kyle Bonagura projects the Tide to take on Louisville in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
I have been very impressed by the entirety of the Alabama team in their victories over Tennessee and LSU and truly believe they can be the best team in the country. In my eyes, the season ultimately comes down to a showdown with Georgia in the SEC Championship game which I feel oddly confident about.
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