Three and out: Alabama in the driver’s seat before championship weekend begins

We’ve reached championship weekend – one of the greatest weekends in sport. It’s crazy how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I was in Ireland covering Georgia Tech vs. Florida State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

It goes without saying that there’s a lot going on both on and off the field, from the College Football Playoff standings to conference championship games to the coaching carousel – there’s no shortage of fun.

Let’s break down the weekend win in this week’s edition of Three and Out.

Lies, lies and lies

The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday, bringing clarity to the 12-team field. Essentially, as long as SMU beats Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, Alabama will claim the final spot. If the Tigers pull off the upset, there will be a debate between the Tigers and Crimson Tide.

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA – NOVEMBER 23: Quarterback Jalen Milroe #4 talks with head coach Kalen DeBoer of the Alabama Crimson Tide after a receiver went out of bounds at the 11-yard line instead of scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2024 in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

The chairman of the CFP selection committee, Warde Manuel, confirmed this in a conference call on Tuesday evening.

“We know which teams beat which teams playing in championship games, and so we have already evaluated how those teams have played throughout the season,” Manuel said. “The fact that they beat someone else at this point strengthens the record of both teams, the one that wins in the championship game, the other that loses, but that doesn’t change our assessment.”

Hmm, that’s funny. Here are quotes from past CFP Select Committee chairs about how they operate EVERY WEEK.

Here is Boo Corrigan in 2022:

“We’re going to go through the week every week without conceding a goal, we’re going to look at every team, we’re going to continue to evaluate, we’re going to continue to compare statistically (and) we’re going to continue to compare their schedules.”

Here is Rob Mullens in 2018:

“That’s the beauty of this process. We start each week with a clean slate and get new results, and that’s exactly what this blank sheet of paper is very helpful for as things change throughout the year. Next week when we come in, we have a blank sheet of paper with another week’s results.

Here is Jeff Long in 2014:

“We start from scratch every week and evaluate small groups of teams against each other and create the rankings over seven rounds of voting. The committee is a group of college football experts whose job it is to take a fresh look at the 1-25 rankings each week.”

It’s almost as if…and just hear me out…the brand is important and the committee is protecting Alabama at all costs.

SMU fluctuates

The ACC Championship Game has every chance of clinching the remaining spot in the CFP. If SMU wins, there is no doubt that Alabama will get that spot. However, if Clemson wins and steals an automatic bid, the debate shifts to SMU vs. Alabama.

Could SMU fall behind Alabama in this hypothetical situation?

SMU’s Roderick Daniels Jr. scores a touchdown against Louisville this Saturday.Oct. 5. 2024

“Possibly yes,” Manuel said.

Nonsense. SMU topped the standings in conference play, its only loss coming against No. 18 BYU (when SMU switched quarterbacks from Preston Stone to Kevin Jennings), and has looked dominant ever since. Simply put, it is unfair for a team to earn a chance to win a conference championship only to have the College Football Playoff slip away with a loss in a “bonus game.”

Get ready for a new coaching dynamic

I’ve spoken to several coaches who believe there will be many in the industry – typically older head coaches – who will essentially be taking early retirement in the next few years. Why? The calendar is just too much.

It’s championship week, the transfer portal is open, National Signing Day is Wednesday and the recruiting process is in full swing. Oh, and these are things called games to prepare for, some of which are playoff games.

It’s just too much. Coaches already skipped several bowl practices last season to handle administrative matters, and several coaches told me that the only day off they had between the end of the season and National Signing Day in February It was Christmas.

We saw a harbinger of the mass exodus of college coaches when Jeff Hafley left Boston College to become an assistant with the Green Bay Packers and Chip Kelly left UCLA to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Expect more of the same in the coming days, weeks, months and years.