College Football Playoff bracket: Can Alabama afford another loss and get in?
After straight up dominating the Missouri Tigers 34-0 this week, it seems like Alabama's season looks to back on track.
According to ESPN's FPI tracker, the Tide still have a 44 percent chance to make the College Football Playoffs. However, it's clear that Kalen DeBoer's squad doesn't have a huge margin of error with a big question surrounding how many losses they can suffer before the program is eliminated from the bracket.
Alabama, who already has a win over likely playoff shoe-in Georgia would probably already be in a great spot to make the playoff if it wasn't for the team's loss to Vanderbilt. The Commodores, who will likely bowl eligible for the first time since 2018, have played well this season but have not looked like world beaters by any means.
In a large part, the Tide have suffered their two losses because of their struggles on offense with them being unable to prevent correctable miscues on that side of the ball. Since some of these mistakes are coachable, it's reasonable to say that DeBoer's coaching seat may be warming next season with the high expectations that comes with following coaching legend Nick Saban.
While DeBoer has yet to coach a full season for the Tide, it's possible that not making the playoff in Year 1 would put him on the hot seat. This could happen as the 12-team playoff format could make Tide fans think that a season that doesn't result in a playoff berth is a complete utter failure.
Projected College Football Playoff bracket after Alabama stomps Missouri
- Oregon Ducks (Big Ten champion)
- Georgia Bulldogs (SEC champion)
- Miami Hurricanes (ACC champion)
- Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12 champion)
- Texas Longhorns
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- LSU Tigers/Texas A&M (head-to-head winner)
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Boise State Broncos (Mountain West champion)
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Tennessee Volunteers
As it currently stands, Alabama would not be in the playoff with the squad losing out on the 12th spot to the Volunteers. One could easily assume that Tennessee would be favored by the committee as Josh Heupel's team beat them this season. Additionally, there are plenty of teams that could leapfrog Alabama this season if they suffer another loss.
While the next couple of weeks may knock out some of these teams later on in the season, programs like BYU, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Army or Boise State could be more deserving of a spot than the Tide for one of the remaining spots in the playoff.
It's still likely that the committee will rule in their favor if Alabama doesn't lose a game the rest of the season. Still, the Tide could tempt fate by losing to LSU or in an upset against Oklahoma or Auburn.
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