The committee makes a controversial decision for Alabama in the second-to-last rankings update

In a controversial decision Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff selection committee pegged the Alabama Crimson Tide as the last overall team in the penultimate rankings update.

The committee putting 9-3 Alabama at No. 11 means the Crimson Tide won the final spot over 10-2 Miami, 9-3 Ole Miss, 9-3 South Carolina and 9-3 Clemson.

If Clemson fails to defeat SMU in the ACC Championship Game this weekend, the Crimson Tide will claim the final playoff spot. However, if Clemson wins and takes one of the conference champion spots instead of SMU, the committee will have to choose between 11-2 SMU or 9-3 Alabama for the final overall spot.

Alabama had a rocky season in its first year in the post-Nick Saban era. The Crimson Tide brought in Kalen DeBoer, but there were some bumps along the way. Alabama started its season with a win over No. 2 Georgia and also holds wins over South Carolina, No. 21 Missouri and No. 15 LSU.

The Crimson Tide’s only ranked loss is against No. 11 Tennessee, but Alabama also has two tough unranked losses this season. Alabama lost to Vanderbilt in early October and was beaten by Oklahoma on the second-to-last weekend of the season.

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer went on The Paul Finebaum Show before Tuesday’s unveiling to make his team’s case, while Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer did the same on The Pat McAfee Show. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin had been using his widely followed social media account all week to make the Rebels’ case.

Following Tuesday’s revelation, Kiffin republished an ESPN article titled “College Football Playoffs Anger Index,” which listed the Rebels as the No. 2 team rightly most angry about the rankings behind Miami.

The third team on ESPN’s David Hale’s list is South Carolina.

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Some on social media couldn’t hide their frustration with the Crimson Tide finishing in last place.

The CFP committee has positioned Alabama for a playoff spot.

If this surprises you, you haven’t been paying attention in the last decade.

– RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 4, 2024

The College Football Playoff committee in 2031 is trying to justify Alabama going 5-7 and making the playoffs pic.twitter.com/B3IZBA8D1Z

– College Football Live (@CollegeFBonX) December 4, 2024

Losing to a 6-6 Oklahoma team with a 94th-ranked offense wasn’t a deciding factor for Alabama, but Miami lost by 4 points to 9-3 Syracuse.

Absolutely absurd special treatment. pic.twitter.com/04hULZgez0

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) December 4, 2024

Some, however, defended the committee’s reasoning:

I hate Alabama. But if the final-place discussions boiled down to three-loss SEC teams, the choice would be easy.

SC lost to both of them, they are out. And Bama just has a better resume than Ole Miss.

I don’t know where this crazy media push for SC came from.

— Brandon Walker (@BFW) December 4, 2024

If Alabama maintains the 11th seed in the playoffs and SMU wins the ACC Championship, the Crimson Tide would likely find a path between Notre Dame, SMU and Texas/Georgia en route to the National Championship game.

Tennessee, the 9th seed in the current playoff round, has a tougher path: Ohio State vs. Oregon vs. Boise State/Penn State to reach the National Championship game.

The first round of the playoffs will be played at campuses across the country, while all subsequent rounds will be played at bowl sites.

As it stands here Wednesday morning, the Crimson Tide will be in the playoffs unless Clemson wins against SMU in the ACC Championship this weekend.

THE UPDATED CFP BRACKET PROJECTION 🏈 pic.twitter.com/5dB1gqvoD0

– ESPN (@espn) December 4, 2024