Dec 07, 2025
3 min read
Alabama is almost certain to make the 12-team field, but it will be much closer than Crimson Tide fans expect
Lopsidship Game in the SEC Championship Game The Lopsided Game may question the legitimacy of college football
Alabama should make about 100 teams
When the 12-team college football field opens Sunday afternoon, Alabama will almost certainly be included.That seemed inevitable when the selection committee moved the Crimson Tide up one spot to No. 9 in its latest rankings, ahead of a Notre Dame team that closed the regular season with a much more convincing victory in the rivalry.
No. 3 Alabama, Alabama and British Columbia do not appear to be in the same field as No. 3 in the championship game.The Bulldogs provided a rare challenge to their rising opponent and won 28-7, even higher than the final score.
Alabama was held to minus-3 rushing yards as a team and didn't eclipse 100 yards until late in the third quarter. Although the Tide beat Georgia in the regular season, they scored just seven points in the final six quarters against the Bulldogs.
It's impossible to imagine a scenario where Alabama doesn't make the playoffs, but whether the Tide's honor is deserved or not, it's true.
"They're not (the team player)," said Damen Harris, the CB College Scracks two-time National Charmbion."This Alabmama team, especially the offense, made the tournament the same."
Alabama would become the first team to suffer three playoff losses and the first team to suffer two double-digit losses in a season.Alabama would go on to go on two losing streaks including 11–11–1 in the regular season and a loss in the Big 12 game to champs-and-12 Miami.
The committee started releasing weekly rankings since teams like Notre Dame, Miami and BYU started playing their best football before the postseason, but Alabama is going in the opposite direction.Has gone 2-2 against FBS opponents since Nov. 1, averaging 17 points per game and exceeding 21 points just once.
They are 0-2 against current opponents since October 4th and rarely win.The first 11 points on a sitting LSU team and a seven-for-four run that ended with one second sealed the win.
Alabama also has the worst loss of any bubble team.The Tide is one of three Power Four teams Florida State has beaten this season.Their only saving grace was an early 14-point loss;Had that happened in November, Alabama would have been out of the question.
The offensive slump is the biggest culprit.Kalen Deboer's team can't run the ball consistently without Jam Miller, along with an unreliable ground attack.Alabama ranks 13th in the SEC in rushing at 126.2 yards per game.
Quarterback Ty Simpson shares some of the blame.He once looked like a legitimate Heisman candidate, but he's been largely ineffective over the past month.He threw his fourth interception in as many games in the SEC title loss to Georgia and failed to complete 50% of his passes.Simpson has averaged 160.3 yards rushing in Alabama's last three games.Not only is he responsible for Alabama's position on the bubble, but the Tide's offense as a whole looks pedestrian against comparable competition.
There's no telling which way the selection committee will go — though its recent decisions strongly suggest Alabama won't fall.But the Tide are far from the undisputed adults many thought they were earlier in the season.
