What Alabama football still needs to do to make it to the CFP

Alabama football has a clearer path to the College Football Playoff.

The CFP Committee released the latest CFP rankings on Tuesday, and the Crimson Tide moved up to No. 11. That means if the season ended today, Alabama would be back in the CFP field and, as a No. 11 seed, would be playing on the road in the first round against No. 6 seed Notre Dame.

But the season doesn’t end today.

Conference games will be played next weekend, and there’s one thing Alabama fans should definitely watch.

The game in Charlotte.

No. 8 SMU faces No. 17 Clemson at 7 p.m. CT at Bank of America Stadium in a game that could decide the Crimson Tide’s fate in the CFP.

If SMU wins, Alabama should all but secure a spot in the 12-team field. If SMU wins, it will secure the ACC’s automatic bid and remain in the CFP field as before. Clemson, out of the playoffs, would fail to get back into play by securing the ACC’s automatic bid. That would cause the least amount of turmoil, which is a good thing for Alabama, which already has 12 teams.

This is the simplest and easiest way to secure a spot for Alabama.

Now, it’s still possible that the Crimson Tide makes the playoffs even if Clemson wins and SMU loses. Clemson would accept the ACC’s automatic bid, and then SMU and Alabama would likely be in the running for the final CFP spot.

CFP Chairman Warde Manuel was asked Tuesday night whether an SMU loss could cause the value to drop below Alabama and he said “possibly yes.”

So there’s a chance the ACC Championship result won’t stop the Crimson Tide from making it to the CFP. But the simplest and easiest way for Alabama is for SMU to win. That should secure another playoff spot for the Crimson Tide.