The Alabama Crimson Tide deserve a spot in the College Football Playoff

Will McLelland-Imagn Images

When the NCAA announced the introduction of the 12-team College Football Playoff, fans wondered how the committee could whittle the field down to just 12 worthy teams. As Selection Sunday approaches a week from now, the opposite will be true as the committee may struggle to find twelve deserving teams.

The Alabama Crimson Tide disappointed in Kalen DeBoer’s first season, stumbling to a 9-3 record but are still in the running for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Alabama is perhaps the biggest name competing for a bid. Do they deserve a spot in the playoffs?

The case for Alabama

Strength of victories

Three teams have three wins against current top-25 opponents: Oregon, South Carolina and Alabama. The Crimson Tide picked up one of the standout wins of the season in a thriller against Georgia and an even more momentous one against the Gamecocks. The Crimson Tide also shut out Missouri, ranked No. 21 in the most recent CFP rankings, and dominated LSU, ranked No. 15 at the time.

The Tide also took care of business against rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Despite finishing the year with a losing record, the Tigers were spoilsports for Texas A&M a week earlier and didn’t have an easy game.

When Alabama is in top shape, the team can compete with anyone in the country. The Crimson Tide’s offense scored 34 or more points in eight games this season, while its defense allowed 16 or fewer in eight games. If you give the Tide a chance to get everything together in the playoffs, things could be dangerous.

The CFP Committee wants to bring the best possible product to market. Last year, Alabama made the playoffs with a loss to an undefeated Florida State team and a strong record. Other factors played a role in this decision, most notably the Seminoles’ loss of Jordan Travis late in the season, but it shows that the committee has historically valued Alabama’s strength against teams with better records.

A weak field

Alabama doesn’t have to be a great team to reach playoff level, they just have to be among the 12 best in the eyes of the committee.

As things stand, there are eight teams that appear to be a sure bet for the playoffs regardless of the conference championship outcome: Oregon, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State and Indiana. Three more spots should come from conference championship battles between Arizona State-Iowa State, SMU-Clemson and Boise State-UNLV.

That would leave another open spot for a team like Alabama to sneak into the playoffs. The Crimson Tide have a decisive head-to-head win over red-hot South Carolina, a fellow contender for the final spot, and a much stronger record than two-loss Miami. If the favorites win the ACC, Big 12 and Mountain West championships, the committee’s decision will likely rest with those three teams. Despite the three losses, it’s hard to pick anyone other than Alabama.

Alabama fans should keep a close eye on the ACC Championship. If three-loss Clemson is able to beat one-loss SMU and clinch an automatic playoff spot, the Mustangs would become the Tide’s biggest rival for the No. 11 seed. If UNLV beats Boise State in a rematch early in the season, the Broncos would also make a case for the playoffs. Their two losses would have come against top-ranked Oregon and MWC champion UNLV, whom they have already beaten this season, although it’s hard to imagine the committee giving a playoff to a Group of Five team that isn’t a conference champion -Allocates space.

SMU’s only loss in the regular season came early in the season against ranked BYU. Had the Mustangs somehow missed the ACC title game with an 11-1 record, they would be considered almost assured of a playoff spot. Would a loss of the conference title be enough to knock out the team that lost three regular season games? Unlike SMU, Alabama has beaten a ranked opponent this season (three times, to be exact).