What the CFP selection chairman said about Alabama football, Miami, SMU and more

The College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday made Alabama the winner of the three-loss SEC team sweepstakes, placing the Crimson Tide at No. 11 in its rankings, inside the 12-team CFP field. Whether UA makes it to the finals depends on the results of this weekend’s conference title game, but it edged out a handful of other teams that won’t be playing this weekend.

CFP Selection Committee Chairman Warde Manuel made it clear that no team that shows initiative this weekend will have a chance of jumping the tide, including Miami, South Carolina and Ole Miss, even if one of the schools does beat those teams, win their conference championship.

“We know which teams beat which teams playing in championship games, and so we have already evaluated how those teams played throughout the season,” Manuel said in a conference call with reporters after the latest rankings were released. “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.

“We know who won games against teams in these championships and we have already taken that into account in the evaluation this week.”

That doesn’t mean Alabama’s spot in the rankings is permanent. The Tide could slip above teams that lose their conference title game, or their spot could be snatched by an upset in one of the games.

“Possibly, yes,” Manuel said when asked if SMU, ranked No. 8 and set to beat Clemson in the ACC championship game, could fall behind UA. “And they can also transcend teams. Here too, it only depends on the outcome of the game.”

Perhaps even more controversially, the Crimson Tide’s spot ahead of Miami appears to be set in stone. This is despite the fact that the Hurricanes beat Clemson earlier this season and a Tigers win over SMU would theoretically boost Miami’s resume.

“Both are very good, and I understand Alabama, the committee ranked Alabama one spot ahead of Miami, but that doesn’t take away from our view of Miami,” Manuel said when asked about the decision between the Hurricanes and Tide. “Even in the last three weeks they have suffered two defeats. We still think Miami is a very strong team. When we evaluated Alabama and Miami, it came down to a difference in their work, not just wins, not just losses, but the overall season and how these teams performed.”

The final CFP series will be announced on Sunday.