Last night's CFP rankings dropped a bomb. Alabama fell from No. 4 all the way down to No. 10 after a tight home loss to Oklahoma. For a team with a resume full of big wins, which I previously covered, with them being one of the few SEC teams in history to win four ranked games in a row, this isn't just a bee sting; this is a punch to the gut. The committee is punishing Alabama for its losses against Florida State and Oklahoma rather than rewarding its wins.
The Committee's message is loud and clear
Who you lose to matters more than who you beat. A brutal four-game stretch with wins over Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee is completely washed away by the opening season loss to Florida State and to now-ranked number 8 Oklahoma. Apparently, this string of dominance means nothing to the committee. The only thing that matters to them is the number in the loss column, not how many great wins you have in the other column.
CFP chair Hunter Yurachek did not attempt to sugarcoat things by calling out the Tide's two losses as "defining metrics" when it came to putting them at #10 and Notre Dame at #9. Notre Dame lost to the two best teams they played on their schedule, then breezed through the rest of their games to this point.
Context matters, but the Committee is not listening
Alabama's loss to Oklahoma was heartbreaking, but they played against one of the best defenses in the country and put up 400 yards of offense. They ended up losing by two points. Yet the committee dropped them six spots. Wasn't this supposed to be the "quality loss" that playoff teams usually have? Yurachek must not have seen the 400 yards of offense because the focal point was the lack of a ground game. He points to the struggles of running the ball at Florida State, South Carolina, LSU, and Oklahoma. Two of those games are wins, and the other two are losses. Rushing efficiency must be weighted pretty heavily in that room. If you are a spread and pass-heavy attack, the committee apparently doesn't reward that style of play.
Why fans should be fired up.
Not just Alabama fans need to be fired up about the playoff committee focusing on losses over wins. Fans of the Miami Hurricanes should also be fed up. They beat Notre Dame on the field. They have the same record as Notre Dame and are currently ranked behind them. The committee knows that those two teams actually played on the field? If Oklahoma rose in the rankings and leaped frogged Alabama, how is Notre Dame ahead of Miami? The losses are what matter in the committee's eyes.
Alabama still has two games on the schedule and can make it to the SEC Championship game. They have to win out. Still, the committee's behavior sends a clear warning that the margin for error is extremely thin. One more mistake, maybe even a loss in the SEC Championship game, could end their championship aspirations. Most Alabama fans hear of "SEC" and bias towards the Tide. Since Saban left, Alabama has not made a 12-team playoff. They were left out last year for Clemson and SMU. Seems we have entered an era where there is bias against Alabama. Despite the top recruiting classes, on-field talent, and one of the hardest schedules in college football, Alabama isn't what it used to be. No longer a dominating force.
Well, at least that is what the committee thinks.