Alabama deserved to drop in the rankings after a frustrating loss to Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide gave the Crimson Tide away, turning it over three times, leading to 17 of Oklahoma's 23 points in the game.
Alabama came into the weekend ranked No. 4 in the AP, Coaches, and College Football Playoff polls. The AP and Coaches both dropped the Crimson Tide to No. 10 on Sunday. We'll find out on Tuesday what the playoff committee's opinion is.
Alabama has no one to blame but itself, but a six-spot drop after a loss to a team now ranked No. 8 seems a bit harsh. It seems harsher considering one of the teams ranked ahead of the Crimson Tide has the same number of losses and nowhere near the resume.
Let's do a blind resume examination:
Team A: 8-2 overall, No. 8 SOR, No. 4 SOS, 4 wins over current Top 25
Team B: 8-2 overall, No. 12 SOR, No. 29 SOS, 1 win over current Top 25
And yes, it wouldn't be fair to ignore the losses. Team A has one bad loss: on the road to unranked Florida State. Team B's losses came to two Top 15 teams.
But does one worse loss really outweigh three more Top 25 wins?
Team is Alabama. Team B is Notre Dame. In case you hadn't figured that out.
Alabama's best win is on the road over No. 4 Georgia. Notre Dame's best win came at home over No. 16 USC.
Alabama's second, third, and fourth best wins are better than anything on Notre Dame's resume. Alabama has wins over AP No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Tennessee, and No. 23 Missouri. The Irish's second-best win is probably on the road against Pitt yesterday?
Notre Dame over Alabama makes zero sense. None. Alabama was the highest-ranked one-loss team for weeks, but now it isn't the highest-ranked two-loss team after losing to a Top 10 opponent? Notre Dame hasn't played a Top 10 opponent since September. A game they lost at home, too.
The College Football Playoff poll may tell a different story, but it all comes down to the Iron Bowl anyway
Regardless of whether Alabama is No. 9 or No. 10 in the committee's rankings on Tuesday, it all comes down to the Iron Bowl nonetheless.
Same as it ever was.
There's a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over it among the fanbase, but the season being on the line in the Iron Bowl is nothing new. Auburn would take great joy in knocking the Crimson Tide out of the playoff. But if Alabama is a playoff team, it should be able to beat a likely 5-6 Auburn on the road. Simple as that.
Alabama's playoff hopes rest on what happens at Jordan-Hare in two weeks. Don't let anyone tell you differently. The doomsday Tide fans want to pretend the Oklahoma loss knocked the Crimson Tide out of the playoff, but it didn't. Win the Iron Bowl, finish 10-2, and Alabama is a playoff team no matter what happens in Atlanta the following week.
As frustrating as the loss to Oklahoma was, Alabama is in a good position. Beat one mediocre opponent on the road and you go to the College Football Playoff.
Lose, and it'll be an uncomfortable offseason in Tuscaloosa.