Alabama football's
College Football Playoff path
is not in the Crimson Tide's control
. But it will be decided Saturday before the final bracket is revealed Sunday.
After losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee
and Oklahoma
, Alabama
will stay home as Georgia and Texas fight for an SEC championship in Atlanta. But the Crimson Tide
remains on the edge of the CFP conversation, one that gives Alabama
a fighting chance to play in the tournament that will decide the national champion.
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Where does Alabama stand heading into conference championship Saturday? Here's a look at what needs to happen for the Crimson Tide
to earn a CFP bid.
Heading into the final CFP rankings, here is where Alabama stands in the eyes of the selection committee.
In the penultimate edition of the rankings released Tuesday, Alabama landed at No. 11 and would be an 11-seed in the CFP facing No. 6 Notre Dame for a quarterfinal date against SMU
.
Why Alabama will make CFP
The CFP selection committee
has put the Crimson Tide
in the right position to make the 12-team tournament.
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Alabama, a three-loss team, finished ahead of two-loss Miami and three-loss SEC teams South Carolina
and Ole Miss
. According to the CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel, since none of those teams will play in a conference championship game, that order is "set."
The CFP selection committee favors Alabama's strength of schedule.
"What it really came down to is Alabama is 3-1 against current top 25 teams and Miami is 0-1," Manuel said on ESPN. "Alabama is 6-1 against teams above .500 and Miami is 4-2. Both have had some losses that weren't what they wanted out of those games. But in the last three games, Miami has lost twice. So for us, evaluating their body of work, we felt Alabama got the edge over Miami."
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Per ESPN, Alabama has the 10th-best strength of record in the sport. All nine teams in front of the Crimson Tide are likely CFP bound. Alabama also has three wins against teams currently ranked against CFP Top 25 teams and six wins against bowl eligible opponents.
Why Alabama won't make College Football Playoff
One scenario may keep Alabama out of the CFP
.
No. 8 SMU takes on No. 17 Clemson on Saturday in the ACC championship game, and if the three-loss Tigers win to earn an automatic bid, Alabama could be pushed out in favor of two-loss SMU. However, Manuel did say a conversation would have to had whether the committee favors SMU, which has not beaten a top-25 team (with a loss to Clemson in this scenario), and the Crimson Tide.
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The same could be said, albeit less likely, with the Mountain West championship game if No. 20 UNLV
beats No. 10 Boise State
.
When do final CFP rankings come out?
The final CFP rankings will be released at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday after the weekend's slate of conference championship games.
How to watch CFP bracket reveal
The CFP bracket will be revealed between 11 a.m.-3 p.m. CT on ESPN.
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Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at
cgay@gannett.com
or follow him
@_ColinGay
on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News:
Alabama CFP bracket predictions: Where Crimson Tide may land in final rankings
