Alabama looked more like a CFP team than we thought, just not how fans imagined

Throughout the First Round of the College Football Playoff, all you could possibly hear or read from Alabama fans was how the Crimson Tide got screwed out of being in the 12-team field by the selection committee. Those fans and analysts (and Lane Kiffin) naturally pointed to the likes of Indiana and SMU getting blown out in their opening CFP matchups — though those arguments held less water after Tennessee, a team that beat Bama, also got torched.

But hey, the best way for Alabama and Kalen DeBoer to go out and prove that they actually belonged in the College Football Playoff would be to make a statement in the Reliaquest Bowl. So as Tuesday rolled around, everyone expected the Crimson Tide to ostensibly make an example out of a shorthanded Michigan Wolverines team on New Year's Eve.

Alabama undoubtedly looked like a CFP team. Unfortunately, they looked like one specific Playoff team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, given what the Crimson Tide's performance against Michigan turned out to look like.

Alabama looked a lot like CFP's Ohio State in losing to Michigan

Things got off to a truly awful start for Alabama in their bowl game with Jalen Milroe turning the ball over three times on the team's first four possessions and turning it over on downs on the other. Before you could even blink, Michigan had a 16-0 lead in the first quarter. The Crimson Tide tried to get things righted but, even against the Wolverines backup-laden defense, they couldn't do enough.

Michigan, meanwhile, basically sat on the ball, not putting the ball in harm's way — especially after QB Davis Warren left injured and made way for Alex Orji — and relying on their defense to stop Alabama enough times. They did just that, including a late fourth-quarter stand that secured the upset 19-13 win for the Wolverines.

And again, it was hard not to think that Alabama looked like a CFP team in Ohio State when it came to how they played Michigan. The Buckeyes made the Playoff with an at-large berth despite falling to the rival Wolverines in the regular-season finale. That matchup played out similarly, with OSU's offense consistently ramming its head against a wall, albeit with fewer self-inflicted wounds in the way of turnovers than the Crimson Tide.

More importantly, both simply fell into Michigan's trap — but one could argue that it was even worse for Alabama. At least Ohio State couldn't handle the Wolverines defense when guys like Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant were on the field. Bama was going against unproven backups and couldn't get it done.

So congratulations to everyone who miserably spent the first weekend of the 12-team College Football Playoff wishing Alabama was in. They looked like a CFP team in the worst possible meaning of it on Tuesday afternoon and, in that way, I guess those arguments are all validated.