After some upsets this past weekend while Alabama football sat idle in preparation for its matchup in Baton Rouge against LSU, it was widely expected that the Crimson Tide would be in the first projected playoff field released by the CFB Playoff Committee.
Alabama's ranking in the playoff mirrors its ranking in the AP Poll. The Tide entered the first playoff rankings ranked No. 11. At 11th, there's obviously no real margin for error left, and Alabama's game with LSU - ranked 15th - will remain a playoff elimination game.
In the first year of the expanded playoff field, the top four seeds get first-round byes. With BYU being ranked No. 9 but the 4th highest-ranked conference champion, the seeding got a little messed up. Because of that, Texas, ranked No. 5 in the committee rankings, is actually the 6th seed and would be Alabama's first-round opponent in a game played in Austin.
Alabama and Texas will not play in the regular season, but there's an outside shot that they end up meeting in Atlanta for the SEC Championship if a few dominos fall a certain way.
The first CFP bracket projection with the 12-team playoff era has dropped 🏈 pic.twitter.com/HXK3syhbEE
— ESPN (@espn) November 6, 2024
Alabama's path to the national championship if they could go on the road and defeat Texas would then include a bowl matchup with Miami, and then a game against either Georgia or Notre Dame/Penn State in the Semifinal. A team from the top of the bracket, likely Oregon or Ohio State, would be waiting in the title game.