Alabama football handled its business in the Iron Bowl, beating Auburn 28-14 for its fifth straight win in the series. Had it not been for the egg it laid a week prior in Norman, the Crimson Tide would have punched its ticket to Atlanta to play Texas for the SEC Championship, and likely already punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff.
Instead, Alabama was left at the mercy of the College Football Playoff Committee. The Tide needed to win and then needed some help. Alabama got the win, and might've gotten just enough help thanks to two results featuring ACC teams.
First, South Carolina knocked off Clemson on the road. The Tigers were ranked one spot ahead of the Crimson Tide a week ago. The Gamecocks win puts them at 9-3 as well and there's some media push for them to jump ahead of Alabama despite the Tide holding a head-to-head victory over the Gamecocks.
I don't think the committee would leapfrog South Carolina over Alabama when head-to-head results are supposedly a big part of the formula they use to select teams.
Later in the day, Syracuse upset Miami to knock the Hurricanes down to 10-2 and out of the ACC Championship Game.
Miami has one less loss than Alabama, but the 'Canes don't have the amount of quality wins the Tide can boast. In fact, as things currently stand Miami doesn't have a win over a ranked team all season. Alabama has three such victories, over Georgia, South Carolina, and Missouri.
The committee already set the precedent a couple of weeks ago that they were comfortable ranking Alabama ahead of Miami despite the Tide having one more loss than the Hurricanes. Two weeks ago, Alabama was ranked No. 6 while Miami was No. 10.
One more ACC game matters for Alabama
I think Alabama will be the last team in the playoff field when the committee rankings come out on Tuesday. That's just a guess at this point, but it's the way I see it. If Alabama is any lower than that, then you can start making your plans for Orlando and the Citrus Bowl.
Even if Alabama is the last team in the projected field, the ACC Championship Game is going to be of major interest for Crimson Tide fans.
At 11-1, SMU likely punched its playoff ticket following a blowout win over Cal. The Mustangs came into the week ranked 9th, and I have a hard time believing they would get punished and dropped out for losing an extra game that Alabama didn't have to play.
Clemson, coming off a loss to South Carolina, is out of the field. Unless, of course, the Tigers can upset the Mustangs in the ACC Championship Game next week. If they do, Clemson will be a bid-stealer and the ACC likely gets two teams into the field.
In that case, Alabama is likely to be the odd team out. So if you want the Tide to make the playoff, be prepared to cheer loudly for SMU next week.