It did not take long after Alabama Football lost to Texas A&M for self-appointed, national College Football Playoff experts to bump the Tide from their four-team Playoff predictions. Without making any accusations, it is suspected some of them dropped the Tide gleefully.
Not that the Crimson Tide did not deserve to be dropped. That is justified after a loss to a now 4-2 Aggies team. Let’s review what teams are now being chosen instead.
ESPN takes a vote from 14 staff members to determine its Allstate Playoff Predictor. The ESPN analytics guru, Bill Connelly is one. Other credible ESPN team members include Chris Lowe, Mark Schlabach and Alex Scarborough. The other ten not specified here are no doubt following what they believe to be some sort of credible standard.
The format was for each of the 14 to pick four Playoff seeds. The unanimous No. 1 was Georgia, as they should be after the Tide loss. Five other teams were also ranked by one or more of the staff. The predominant No. 2 was Iowa and after the win over Penn State, the Hawkeyes are deserving.
The two other teams most often chosen were Cincinnati and Oklahoma. Michigan State was picked as the No. 4 seed on two ballots. Alabama Football was selected as the No. 4 seed on one ballot.
For CBS, Jerry Palm updated his four Playoff teams after what he described as the Crimson Tide’s “stunning loss.” Palm had Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma and Cincinnati – in that order.
At this point of the Playoff projections cycle, undefeated teams get and deserve to get priority. With the undefeated list down to 13 teams, there will have to be more sifting out before one-loss teams get much traction as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
Bill Bender of Sporting News took a more forward-thinking approach and picked six teams; with Cincinnati No. 4 and the Alabama Crimson Tide No. 5, followed by Ohio State at No. 6.
An Alabama Football Opinion
As an Alabama Football fan, I ask one thing of these 16 individuals. If your picks now are based on resume and giving added value to undefeated teams, will your later picks be adjusted to choosing the ‘four-best’ teams? Choosing the four best is the task of the CFB Selection Committee.
After the conference championship games, it may be clear, Alabama Football is not one of the four-best teams. But, if the Crimson Tide wins out the regular season and beats Georgia in Atlanta, leaving it out of at least the No. 4 seed would be suspect. Selecting an undefeated Cincinnati team over a 12-1 Crimson Tide – because the Bearcats beat Indiana and Notre Dame – would be professional negligence.
To be clear, no argument is presented here that the Crimson Tide performed like a Playoff team while losing to the Aggies. But there is a lot of football left.