Alabama’s 3-loss resumé should force CFP committee to favor Arizona State

Arguably the single biggest winner from the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings reveal last Tuesday night was Alabama. Seemingly left for dead after the 24-3 disaster against Oklahoma handed them a third loss on the year, the Tide got all the breaks they needed during a chaotic Rivalry Week (plus a little help from the selection committee), landing on the right side of the bubble ahead of teams like two-loss Miami and three-loss Ole Miss and South Carolina. Sitting at home on conference championship weekend, and with no obvious bid-stealers lurking behind them, Kalen DeBoer's team seemed secure in a CFP spot.

While that's still true — it would be a shocking turn of events if Alabama were left out of the final 12-team field — the Tide's position in the bracket is looking a little less sure thanks to the first major result on Saturday afternoon. The Arizona State Sun Devils didn't just beat Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship Game; Kenny Dillingham's team absolutely put it on the Cyclones, getting over 200 total yards and three touchdowns from running back Cam Skattebo and forcing three second-half turnovers en route to a 45-19 win.

With the win, ASU has clinched itself a spot in playoff, capping a remarkable turnaround after going 3-9 in Dillingham's first year at the helm in 2023. But they did even more than that: They also delivered a message loud and clear to the committee, one that should have them vaulting over the Crimson Tide when the final rankings are released on Sunday.

Arizona State's Big 12 title blowout should vault them over Alabama in College Football Playoff field

That sound you hear is the collective groan that SEC fans just let out reading the above sentence. Arizona State? A more deserving playoff resume than Alabama?

The answer is, or at least should be, yes, and it really isn't all that controversial. For starters, the Sun Devils have played one more game than the Tide and still have one fewer loss. The win over Iowa State gave ASU a second ranked victory this season, which is just one less than Alabama has — and keep in mind that one of those ranked wins for Bama is against Missouri, which was playing with its backup quarterback and really doesn't have much of a case to still be ranked at this point.

Plus, of the two losses Arizona State has suffered this season, one of them came without starting quarterback Sam Leavitt, who missed the 24-14 defeat at Cincinnati back in mid-October. With their QB1 on the field, Dillingham's team is 11-1; and if you think that's a leap in logic, just ask Florida State how much the selection committee cares about whether a team does or doesn't have its best quarterback on the field.

No, the Sun Devils' schedule hasn't been quite as daunting as Alabama's. No, they don't have a win as impressive as the Tide's over Georgia. But the only thing Arizona State can do is play the games in front of it, and it's done so in a way that makes it worthy over being ranked above Alabama when the final rankings are released. At some point, the fact that the Tide have lost three games has to mean something, and the Sun Devils have absolutely looked the part over their last four games (convincing wins at Kansas State and Arizona, plus wins over BYU and Iowa State). If the committee is honestly evaluating resumes, they'll put ASU at 11, or maybe even leap them in front of Boise State in the race for a first-round bye. If not, we'll know that a team's logo really does go a long way.