Alabama AD Greg Byrne is touting the Crimson Tide to reach the College Football Playoff

The world of college football has shifted focus to the first 12-team playoffs as the 2024 regular season ended Saturday.

In the four-team playoff format that lasted a decade, no two-loss program ever made it to the elite division. A big question arising from the 12-team format is whether a team with three losses can be in the same conversation as an undefeated program with one or two losses.

Alabama finished the regular season 9-3 and it could be difficult for the Crimson Tide to be part of the initial 12-team group. Alabama has become the center of attention as a team that could overcome the three-loss hurdle due to its plethora of impressive wins this season.

On Monday night, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to explain why his program is qualified to compete for the Crimson Tide’s 19th national championship.

“Here’s a good look at the numbers/rankings for Alabama football,” Byrne said. “Look, there’s a lot of talk about 2v3 losing teams, but that’s just one factor. When looking at the College Football Playoff principles for the selection committee, the first item on the list of considerations is the strength of the schedule. Not all schedules and conferences are created equal.

“We have worked diligently to add more challenging non-conference home-and-home games, which is good for college football, not to mention the SEC, week in and week out, is the toughest in the country.”

The pitch from Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne

Byrne, who is a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, is the second person involved in Alabama athletics to make his case to the CFP committee on Monday, as fellow left guard and co-captain Tyler Booker made his pitch this morning.

Alabama’s schedule has certainly been one of the toughest among the other teams being considered for the College Football Playoff, but the Tide has picked up wins over current No. 7 Georgia, No. 15 South Carolina and No. 21 Missouri. However, losses to current No. 8 Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma are giving the committee some headaches.

We’ll find out if Alabama’s chances improve a bit when the College Football Playoff rankings are shown Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.