Since October’s loss to Tennessee, any hopes for a berth in the College Football Playoff have been seen as a longshot for Alabama football. Many fans have already turned their attention to 2023. However, it’s never good to count Nick Saban and the Tide out. A resurgent November for Alabama, and the stumbling of some other CFP hopefuls had seemingly provided the opportunity for the Tide to slide in the backdoor. Nick Saban should personally hand write Shane Beamer a Christmas card, as the Gamecocks removed both Tennessee and Clemson as potential barriers to the big dance. “Big Game Jimbo” finally made good on his ridiculous contract, spoiling any chance LSU had, even if they had no chance of beating Georgia this Saturday. Most importantly, Ohio State laid a giant egg against Jim Harbaugh and Michigan by getting trounced at home,
Last College Football Playoff Rankings Announced
Then on Tuesday, the College Football Playoff Commitee issued what was seen as a death blow to the Crimson Tide’s playoff chances. In the last rankings before Championship Saturday, the Tide settled into the sixth spot behind Ohio State. College Football Playoff Commissioner Boo Corrigan went so far as to tell Reece Davis on National TV that there was no way the Tide could jump Ohio State. This stirred up quite a controversy which led Corrigan to quickly recant his statement later to the media. “I apologize. That’s not necessarily the case. I apologize if there is confusion.” In the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas, “So… you’re telling me there’s a chance!”
Alabama Football’s Only Hope
Let’s start with the obvious, USC needs to lose the PAC 12 Championship if the Tide are to have any chance. Outside of that, Purdue holds the key to Alabama still making the playoff. Currently, the strength of the Ohio State argument rests on the fact that they only have one loss and that the rest of their resume is strong. The Committee pointed to victories over Penn State and Notre Dame as particularly important. If Michigan were to lose the Big Ten Championship game to an underwhelming Purdue team it would call that Quality Loss to Michigan into question as well as the overall strength of the Big Ten. Is that enough to push the Tide over the top, that remains to be seen, but it does give Alabama Football a glimmer of hope heading into the weekend.
The first domino needing to fall is Friday night. Go Utes!
