The Alabama Crimson Tide enter their fourth-straight College Football Playoff, but how did they get to this point?
Since the inception of the College Football Playoff, the Alabama Crimson Tide haven’t known the feeling of being on the outside looking in. They were the No. 1 overall seed in the first ever CFP, the second seed for the 2016 playoff, and then the No. 1 seed again last year. However, this year stands as an outlier in this regard as they ready to take on the Clemson Tigers as the No. 4 seed, just barely making it into the field of four.
Despite the unfamiliar seeding and circumstances though, the Crimson Tide and Tigers meeting in the College Football Playoff is most certainly nothing new. After all, this is the matchup that fans have seen decide the National Champion over the past two seasons — the Tide winning in 2016 and the Tigers winning the rematch this past year.
This time around, however, the winner will only stay alive in competing for a National Championship. Having said that, it’s fitting that these two teams would be meeting with different stakes as they are both very different teams than they have been in recent years. As such, let’s take a look at how Alabama made it into the College Football Playoff.
September
The Crimson Tide were put to the test right out of the gate in September, opening their 2017 campaign against the Florida State Seminoles, the No. 3 ranked team in the country at the time. Though the final score-line may have only had Alabama winning 24-7, it was a wholly dominant performance for Saban’s bunch. They feasted on a sub-par FSU offensive line all night long and ultimately ended Deondre Francois’ season (unintentionally, of course) because of the relentless pressure they put on him.
Meanwhile, the rest of September wasn’t much to speak of. Bama rolled over Fresno State in dominant fashion after the win over Florida State. Admittedly, the Colorado State Buffaloes gave them more of a test than anyone could have rightfully foreseen, but it was still an 18-point triumph for the Tide at the end of the day. They then went on the road and demolished a pesky Vanderbilt squad and did the same to finish the month at home against Ole Miss.
October
After two routs to end the month of September, many may have thought that the Tide were going to roll through the rest of their admittedly thin SEC schedule, particularly in October. However, that didn’t start off being the case as they went down to College Station and were pushed to begin the month.
Kevin Sumlin and the Texas A&M Aggies didn’t have the best overall season, but they showed immeasurable fight in taking on Alabama. The Aggies trailed for much of the game, but never stopped on either side of the ball. They clawed back into the game and had their chances in the fourth quarter to potentially make it a tie game. However, Saban’s group ultimately prevailed, predictably thanks to their ground game down the stretch.
As for the rest of October, there wasn’t much to speak of. Both Arkansas and Tennessee offered very little test for Bama before the Tide got an off week to finish out the month.
November
The heat most certainly picked up in November for the Crimson Tide, however, as they had three matchups against ranked opponents, surrounded by a tune-up game against Mercer prior to the Iron Bowl to cap off the regular season.
Alabama took care of the first two matchups, but not without some real work behind it. Though they prevailed by two touchdowns over LSU, the Tigers most certainly made the Tide work for the victory. Meanwhile, you could say that Saban’s group of young men had to work even harder the next week as they went on the road to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. However, it was a late touchdown and a 14-3 fourth-quarter scoring margin that ultimately saved a then perfect season for the Crimson Tide.
Following those two clutch wins, though, a blowout win over Mercer set the stage for the Iron Bowl. Alabama knew a spot in the College Football Playoff was theirs if they could pull off the rivalry win. However, the Auburn Tigers were playing their best football of the season coming into the contest. That was a fact that the Tide found out the hard way. Auburn controlled the game from the opening kickoff and pulled out a strong 26-14 win to give Alabama one loss. More importantly, the Crimson Tide were knocked out of the SEC Championship Game with Auburn taking the SEC West due to the victory.
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However, the Crimson Tide’s playoff chances were reignited when the Tigers lost in the aforementioned SEC Championship Game to Georgia. Though it wasn’t a certainty that Alabama would get in, the committee deemed them more worthy than Big Ten Champion Ohio State. Which leads us to here, with the Crimson Tide in their fourth-straight College Football Playoff appearance and vying for their third consecutive National Championship Game showing.