Far be it for me to give Auburn credit for anything. I can't stand the Cow College in Lee County.
And I'll readily admit, Saturday, October 17th was a difficult day as an Alabama fan. Not only did a beaten-up Crimson Tide get manhandled by Tennessee in Knoxville, but Auburn earned a stunning upset of No. 1 Georgia. It was one of the worst football Saturdays in recent memory for Alabama fans.
The response of Auburn fans to that Saturday elicited a two-word thought to enter my mind. One of them was an expletive.
After the first set of College Football Playoff rankings came out on Tuesday night, two more words came to mind to be directed at Auburn:
Thank you.
Alabama was stunningly ranked at No. 5 in the initial CFP rankings, much to the surprise of literally everyone.
Auburn deserves a nice chunk of that credit. Seriously. Just bear with me.
Why Auburn deserves a 'thank you' for Alabama's No. 5 ranking in CFP poll
The world watched a physical, knockdown, drag-out war between Alabama and Georgia on October 10th. Everyone walked away from that game thinking that was two of the five best teams in college football going head-to-head.
Then Alabama looked terrible against Tennessee the following week in Knoxville, damaging that thought process for everyone. Except the playoff selection committee.
Because the playoff selection committee took note of something else: Georgia following up the Alabama game with its worst performance of the season and a home loss to Auburn as a three-touchdown favorite.
The playoff committee took those two results and effectively tossed them out, chalking them up to two teams that had just beaten the crap out of each other in Tuscaloosa having nothing left in the tank the following week.
That only happened because Auburn did Alabama a favor and took down Georgia. If it were only the Crimson Tide that played poorly the following week against Tennessee, then they are likely a good bit lower in Tuesday's initial CFP rankings. If Georgia had handled Auburn as oddsmakers expected, then there would be no real excuse for the way Alabama played in Knoxville.
Now, there still really isn't. Alabama wasn't ready for that game. But it's also true that they were beaten up and battered, missing numerous key starters, with a couple of other key starters going down in the first half of the game.
Context and nuance are important factors in college football discussions. Things are never black-and-white.
For the first time, we got a forward-thinking CFP committee that was willing to mix it up and not conform to simple win-loss records as the be-all, end-all in the discussion. Not all schedules are created equally. The committee made that loud and clear on Tuesday night.
And yet, the national media and fans outside of Tuscaloosa are complaining when they should be celebrating. Because it's Alabama, they have to react negatively. Nick Saban permanently damaged their brain chemistry, and they'll never get over his two decades of dominance.
Let them cry. Who cares. They were always going to. They can't think of anything related to Alabama rationally.
Luckily, the CFP committee can. And they deserve a thank you for that.
And while you're at it, throw one to our little brothers over in Lee County, too.
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