The SEC is too good and that's a problem for Alabama Football and other top SEC teams

SEC Football in Week 12 provided plenty of excitement. Georgia 's win over Tennessee was a classic. For Florida fans, the Gators taking down LSU must have felt like salvation. South Carolina made a solid claim to being the nation's best three-loss team. Alabama Football got a big win and some help in the Playoff pecking order when Kansas upset BYU.

Fans hoping for more Playoff clarity did not get much from Week 12 games. Kirby Smart explained not knowing what to expect from the CFP Selection Committee. " I don’t know what they’re looking for. I really don’t. I wish they could really define the criteria. I wish they could do the eyeball test where they come down here and look at the people we're playing against."

Kirby is right. The game looks different when viewed up close. What becomes obvious in person is that the physical attributes of SEC roster talent are unmatched by those of any other conference. Sure there are many equally blessed college football players not on SEC teams. There are even some who might surpass elite SEC talent. But other conferences, from top to bottom of their teams cannot match SEC talent.

SEC football fans relish the talent bonanza, but perhaps it has a downside. In no other conference do the bottom-rung teams pose a threat to the conference's top teams. Occasional upsets are the exception. But outside of Mississippi State, the other 15 SEC teams are tough to beat at home, and sometimes on the road. Nick Saban recently said that Ole Miss is probably playing the best football in the SEC. The Rebels lost to Kentucky in Oxford. The Wildcats are currently the SEC's 15th-best team. In September, the Georgia Bulldogs barely escaped an upset by Kentucky in Lexington. Georgia won 13-12.

Alabama football fans are still haunted by Vanderbilt beating the Crimson Tide in Nashville. Three weeks ago, Texas played Vandy in Nashville. The Longhorns won 27-24, after beating Georgia in Austin the week before, 30-15.

Dramatizing the current situation in SEC Football, Matt Hayes wrote, "It’s all unfolding now, week after week like some sick joke. And there’s not a thing the most powerful conference in college sports can do about it. The SEC is eating itself on the road to the College Football Playoff, a self-destructive stretch that will no doubt finish with the worst possible scenario."

The worst possible scenario is the SEC ends up with five or six worthy Playoff teams and the Selection Committee selects only four, and possibly only three. An argument could be made that all seven SEC teams currently ranked in the AP Poll are Playoff-worthy teams.

Will Alabama football fans be shocked on Selection Sunday?

On Selection Sunday, Hayes is correct there will be hordes of incensed SEC football fans. The Selection Committee will be blamed, but the main failing is the Playoff selection process. It was designed for inclusion, above rewarding excellence.

This season will play out unpredictably. What is predictable has already been made clear. One or more teams with no wins over ranked teams will make the 12-team field. And they will be selected over SEC teams whose schedule gauntlets are tougher than nearly every Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 team.