This USA TODAY Sports college football expert sees Alabama making a DEEP run in the College Football Playoff.
What a difference a week can make. That’s especially true for the Alabama Crimson Tide, who came into Week 11 a borderline College Football Playoff team in most experts’ postseason projections.
But after soundly beating the LSU Tigers 42-13, Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide have gone from being a mere Playoff contender to a much deeper projection in one expert’s prediction.
That’s according to the latest College Football Playoff projections from USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith, who updated his weekly postseason picks Tuesday. Smith now sees Alabama not only making the Playoff, but going all the way to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Here’s how Smith sees it happening. He projects Alabama, as a No. 7 seed, to beat the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers in a first-round game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. From there, he has the Crimson Tide beating projected ACC champion Miami in the Peach Bowl, then taking down the Ole Miss Rebels in the semifinals at the Orange Bowl.
Doing that would put Alabama in the title game against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Atlanta on Jan. 20, 2025, Smith predicts.
Smith’s four projected conference champions are the Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns, BYU Cougars and Miami Hurricanes.
Could the SEC get five teams into the College Football Playoff?
That’s a projection USA TODAY Sports’ Blake Toppmeyer is ready to make after a wild Saturday of games that included Ole Miss’ 18-point win over the Georgia Bulldogs in Oxford. In Toppmeyer’s weekly Playoff projections, he sees Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas and the Tennessee Volunteers all making the 12-team field.
Although the math in getting to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game is tricky, Toppmeyer sees the Crimson Tide as his SEC champion and the No. 2 overall seed in the Playoff behind Oregon.
Toppmeyer said of Alabama:
“As an SEC standings logjam forms, complex tiebreaker protocols might be needed to determine one or both teams for the conference championship game. So, I can’t say with certainty Alabama will reach Atlanta. Strapped with two conference losses, the Crimson Tide require help to get there. If they they get there, I like their chances of retaining the SEC’s crown. Quarterback Jalen Milroe regained his juice, and Alabama showed no signs of its October woes, while demolishing LSU.”
Toppmeyer has Oregon as his No. 1 overall seed with BYU as the No. 3 seed and Miami as the No. 4 seed of the four Power Four champions.
The Power Four champions will receive a first-round bye and advance to the quarterfinal round of the Playoff at neutral sites: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl.
Alabama was No. 11 in the initial CFP rankings last week. The updated rankings will be unveiled Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Alabama football schedule 2024
Alabama (7-2) will host the Mercer Bears (9-1) from the FCS Southern Conference at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on SEC Network+.
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