Start the Alabama conspiracies after leaping Notre Dame – but math is in their favor

Does SEC bias exist in modern college football? That question was answered on Tuesday night, as the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings were released. Once again, the Alabama Crimson Tide were featured – and discussed heavily – in the aftermath.

Alabama defeated the now 5-7 Auburn Tigers in the Iron Bowl just last Saturday. It took a gutsy fourth-down conversion for them to tame the Tigers, a team that likely will not make an actual bowl game and whose season has ended. Somehow that victory was impressive enough for Bama to surpass both Miami and Notre Dame – two teams that are notably not in the SEC.

Why Alabama is ranked higher than Miami and Notre Dame, explained

The answer to that question was explained in detail by the College Football Playoff committee. Essentially, they value Alabama's resume more than Notre Dame's or Miami's. It really is that simple. Alabama won a rivalry game in close fashion over Auburn last week. While the Tigers may have finished under .500 for the season, there's no denying their record doesn't necessarily speak for the roster at hand.

Alabama has better ratings in many of the metrics the CFP committee holds dear. Fair or not, every team is judged on a level playing field. The Crimson Tide do happen to play in a better conference than, say, Miami and Notre Dame. That is their choice. Alabama also tends to open the season against tougher opponents. Yet, even when laid out as perfectly as above, there will always be naysayers.

The argument for SEC bias

Alabama lost to the Florida State Seminoles to open the season. That Noles team finished the season 5-7. As bad as that defeat was – and it looked bad enough for the committee to keep the Tide behind Notre Dame up until last week – apparently a victory over another SEC opponent in Auburn was enough to sway them. Auburn is also 5-7. What am I not getting here?

“The debate between Alabama and Notre Dame over the past three weeks has been one of the strongest debates we’ve had in the room for the past two years since I’ve been a member of the committee,” Hunter Yurachek said.

The committee chair continued, again placing emphasis on the Tide's victory over Auburn as to why they were ranked above Notre Dame and Miami.

“That was enough to change the minds of a couple committee members to push Alabama above Notre Dame in this week’s rankings,” Yurachek said.

There are arguments to be made that both Miami and Notre Dame deserve consideration for the Playoff, especially should Alabama lose next weekend against the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship. If they lose, and are somehow kept in the field or replaced by another SEC team (see: Texas), a reckoning may be upon us.

How Alabama could still miss the College Football Playoff

Alabama is not guaranteed to make the College Football Playoff. This is why I would urge any would-be protesters in Miami or South Bend to wait until next weekend before lighting your torches. In a 12-team format, there are bound to be a few programs left out week to week. Thankfully for those of us screaming SEC bias at the top of our lungs, Alabama could very well miss out on the Playoff should they lose to Georgia in Atlanta.

That would give Bama three losses on the season, which would tie them with Texas – another SEC team fighting for their CFP life – and would be one less than both Notre Dame and Miami.

The tricky scenario would be if Alabama played well in the SEC title game, but lost to Georgia in a close contest. The Committee would then be asked to take the eye test into account, and perhaps put Alabama into the playoff over another three-loss SEC team, and several two-loss programs that deserve a shot as well.

We can only hope it doesn't come to that, but disaster is right around the corner.