Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, almost anytime a Crimson Tide game swung for better or worse on a late call by an official, was fond of noting that it's dangerous business to leave a game's outcome in the hands of the refs.
His point? If Alabama dominates opponents decisively enough, it won't have to worry about officials impacting the outcome. That lesson rang true Sunday morning as the College Football Playoff selection committee chose SMU over Alabama for the last available spot in its new 12-team format.
PORTAL BASICS: How does NCAA transfer portal work? Alabama football fans' complete guide
COACHES POLL: Where Crimson Tide ranks in US LBM Coaches Poll Week 16
Alabama's 2024 team fooled around just enough that its season became a metaphorical fourth-quarter nail-biter where a playoff berth was concerned, and the CFP selection committee ultimately refused to throw a penalty flag on SMU's light schedule. Alabama's argument for inclusion rested heavily on strength of schedule, and it was a sound one. The Crimson Tide went 9-3 against the 16th-toughest schedule in the nation, per ESPN, and beat eventual SEC champion Georgia.
Meanwhile, SMU zipped through the nation's 60th-ranked schedule with an 11-2 record, but without a single victory over a CFP top-25 team. Strength-of-schedule math should speak just as loud, or louder, than the math of Alabama's three losses versus SMU's two.
But Alabama's play had to speak most loudly of all; and to the selection committee, it didn't.
By losing three games, including two that were all too winnable against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma , the Crimson Tide lost control of its postseason fate. And put it in the hands of a 13-member committee that huddled after Clemson's 34-31 win over the Mustangs and made its own decision about how much strength of schedule matters. NEWSFLASH! : Alabama football 's 2024 team isn't anything special. Its defense didn't show up in Nashville. Its offense took the night off in Norman. Based on its full body of work, UA doesn't at all have the look of a national championship team.
Just because the Crimson Tide played a schedule that would have justified a CFP berth doesn't mean it didn't blow the chance to secure one. Both things are true at once.
Saban, shortly after the CFP field was announced, openly wondered whether UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne will opt to cancel future games against tough non-conference opponents such as Notre Dame, Ohio State and others. It's a reasonable question, given the SMU schedule that just proved good enough to qualify. Before the CFP selections were even made, it was already a relatively safe bet that some of those future non-conference games could face cancellation if the SEC eventually increases its conference schedule from eight games per year to nine. Now, that bet's probably even safer.
The Crimson Tide made a cannonball splash into the CFP's four-team pool, commanding eight bids and three national titles over 10 years − more on both counts than any school in the country. It won't ring in the 12-team playoff with any splash at all. Instead, it will head to a bowl game looking to follow the bitter aftertaste of the selection committee's decision with whatever sweetness it can find in a postseason exhibition.
The schedule argument is legitimate, but the selection committee, much like an officiating crew, swallowed its whistle on it.
And Alabama put itself in the position of needing the call.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Alabama football has only itself to blame for missing out on CFP
