HOMER!!!!
There, I did it for you. So no need to say it yourself. I won't deny it. You clicked on an article written by an Alabama fan site, after all. What did you expect?
We look at things through crimson-tinted glasses around these parts. We try to be realistic too, but when the chips are down, we're going to lean toward Alabama.
Over the weekend, we did game-by-game predictions for the regular season for Alabama, and we came out at a 10-2 mark for the Crimson Tide. That would be good enough for the College Football Playoff.
I think it would probably be just short of the SEC Championship Game, however. I think both Texas and Georgia get through the regular season with only one conference loss apiece, setting up their meeting in Atlanta, where Steve Sarkisian finally solves the Kirby Smart puzzle and delivers the Longhorns' first-ever SEC Championship.
Elsewhere, Miami captures its first ACC Championship, Ohio State wins the Big Ten, and BYU avenges last year's Big 12 Championship Game loss to Texas Tech. I also think Notre Dame runs through the regular season undefeated.
With that in mind, we get the following 12 teams in the field.
Projecting the 12-team College Football Playoff field for 2026
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Miami (FL)
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Alabama
- Indiana
- LSU
- BYU
- Michigan
- Memphis
That would give us the following first-round matchups:
BYES: Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Miami
5. Georgia vs. 12. Memphis
6. Oregon vs. 11. Michigan
7. Alabama vs. 10. BYU
8. Indiana vs. 9. LSU
In this scenario, Alabama would face Big 12 Champion BYU, but would do so in the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The path from there, assuming a Crimson Tide win over the Cougars, would take Alabama to a bowl matchup against 2-seeded Notre Dame.
Elsewhere, we get some pretty intriguing matchups. I have Memphis as the Group-of-Six representative on the strength of their Week 0 road win over UNLV. They are led by former Alabama assistant coach Charles Huff, who seems destined for a big job down the road.
Oregon and Michigan would be an intriguing Big 10 battle, and then defending national champion Indiana would face off at home against Lane Kiffin's LSU.
Assuming no upsets, the quarterfinals would look like this:
1. Texas vs. 8. Indiana
2. Notre Dame vs. 7. Alabama
3. Ohio State vs. 6. Oregon
4. Miami (FL) vs. 5. Georgia
That's a pretty intriguing list of quarterfinalists. Give me Texas and Ohio State winning as favorites, and then Alabama upsetting Notre Dame and Georgia knocking off Miami to give the SEC three of the four semifinalists.
1. Texas vs. 5. Georgia
3. Ohio State vs. 7. Alabama
Texas knocks off Georgia again, and then Alabama's run ends in the semifinals with a loss to Ohio State, but there are no further doubts about Kalen DeBoer's ability to lead the program in a post-Nick Saban world.
Texas then knocks off Ohio State to deliver the national championship for Sarkisian and the Longhorns, the first for Sark and Texas' first since 2005.
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