Is Alabama in the College Football Playoff regardless of the outcome of the SEC Championship Game?
Alabama is in uncharted territory, trailing an opponent and looking vulnerable for the first time all year.
In a rematch of last year’s National Championship Game, Georgia is playing with the intensity you’d expect after they had their hearts ripped out by Tua Tagovailoa in the second half and overtime in the loss last year. Georgia took a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, the first such quarter that Alabama trailed at the conclusion.
The Crimson Tide answered with a score of their own but Georgia kept the pressure on with two unanswered scores and it looks like this could be headed for another thrilling finish. Georgia leads 21-14 at halftime.
Let’s fast forward to the end and explore some hypothetical scenarios.
With a win, Alabama will clinch the No. 1 seed in the playoff rankings they’ve held all year. That’s no surprise, but what would be a surprise to those watching outside Georgia, would be if Nick Saban’s team lost.
Alabama hasn’t lost all year, but if they can’t come back vs. the Bulldogs, will they have a body of work that would get them in the playoff?
If you ask ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, he’d have Alabama in the playoff with a loss, and he’d have these two teams meeting again in the semifinals. Wouldn’t that be fun?!
If Bama wins close game
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) December 1, 2018
1-Bama
2-Clemson
3-ND
4-UGA
If UGA wins
1-Clemson
2-UGA
3-Bama
4-ND
If Bama blows UGA out
1-Bama
2-Clemson
3-ND
4-OU/OSU debate.
Herbstreit’s line of thought matches up with mine. I think Alabama would be in with a loss. They won every game by at least 20 points. That’s practically unheard of and have been the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 for the last month of the season. Losing to Georgia shouldn’t drop them from No. 1 to No. 5. Losing to the No. 4 team wouldn’t warrant that type of drop.
Win or loss, Alabama is in the playoff.
That won’t sit well in Oklahoma where the Sooners are watching this game and rooting for Alabama to win. Oklahoma needs them to win so they can take Georgia’s spot in the playoff, provided they hold off Ohio State, as expected.
The second half of this game could decide whether the SEC gets two teams in for the second year in a row.
The final College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed Sunday at noon on ESPN.