Survive and move forward. Survive and move forward.
If I’m the Alabama Crimson Tide, as a player, coach or fan, that’s what I tell myself. Repeatedly. Alabama’s road win at LSU knocks the Tigers out of the College Football Playoff and SEC title game discussion.
With a win, Alabama goes another week toward strengthening their resume for the playoffs and the SEC title game. The win also revives the thought of an Alabama home game, something that felt like a lock in September.
That feeling isn’t just based on the Crimson Tide blowing out LSU, it’s what happened before And after Saturday night’s kickoff. Before Alabama and LSU faced off, there were two teams ahead in the first edition of the CFP rankings There were huge falls that may still be felt when the next rankings come out next Tuesday.
In Atlanta, the No. 4 Miami Hurricanes were upset by the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, most likely raising the odds of the ACC getting one team in the playoffs. Later that afternoon, No. 3 Georgia suffered the most damage of any SEC playoff contender by losing to No. 16 Ole Miss.
It will take some time to see if their win over then No. 1 Texas would help their cause, but that appears to be just a highlight in a season full of ‘what-ifs’ and ‘almosts’. In just six days, weak playoff chances can be revived with a win over No. 7 Tennessee in Athens, Georgia.
There was almost a third top-10 team that went down as No. 9 BYU on the road to Utah in the famous Holy War. Additionally, Iowa State dropping a second straight game – a loss to Kansas – most likely makes the Big 12 a one-bid league. Good news for both Alabama and the SEC.
What does this past weekend mean for Alabama? As one of the few teams with two losses, its chances of hosting a playoff game may have increased.
Here’s a look at the latest bracket projections from AL.com:
Remember, the top four teams from each conference get a first-round bye, so the seeding and pairing will be adjusted.
Top 4 seeds
- 1. Oregon (Big Ten) – Rose Bowl
- 2. Texas (SEC)–Sugar Bowl
- 3. Boise State (MWC)-Fiesta Bowl
- 4. BYU (Big 12) – Peach Bowl
Thanks to a topsy-turvy ACC, in this week’s projection I see Boise State sliding from a G5 spot to a top-four spot, as they are currently ranked higher than the ACC leader. Again, the top four ranked conference champions will be the top four for each of the bowls. So this week the ACC champion is in the big pool.
Here’s what the rest of the expected on-campus matchups in the first round look like:
- No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 12 SMU (Columbus, OH)
- No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 Ole Miss (State College, PA)
- No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 10 Alabama (Knoxville, TN)
- No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Notre Dame (Bloomington, IN)
First four out: Texas A&M, Miami, Colorado, Georgia.
Alabama fans reading this, don’t throw away the computer on a planned trip back to Knoxville, TN and hear me out, with a Tennessee trip to Georgia it’s essentially a knockout game just like LSU-Alabama was this past week .
For Alabama, as long as they stay the course and win games while a team like Tennessee loses, getting a home playoff game from Bryant-Denny Stadium becomes more of a lock as the season reaches its key stages.
Andrew Hammond is the sports editor at AL.com. He can be reached at [email protected] or at @ahammaldc.
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