Alabama football may have gotten just enough help on Saturday to back its way into the College Football Playoff field. The Crimson Tide knocked off Auburn for the fifth straight season, 28-14 to finish the regular season at 9-3.
South Carolina defeated Clemson and Miami lost a stunner on the road to Syracuse. That's two teams that were ahead of the Crimson Tide that Alabama might jump on Tuesday.
ESPN's Heather Dinich and CBS' Jerry Palm both still have Miami ahead of Alabama, but that's short sighted thinking, in my mind. It's true that Miami has one less loss, but the committee already set the precedent of ranking the Crimson Tide ahead of Miami despite an extra loss. Two weeks ago a two loss Alabama was four spots ahead of a one loss Miami.
The ACC Championship will be of particular interest next week as Clemson could steal a bid by beating SMU, which would likely keep Alabama on the outside looking in. You have to figure SMU clinched a bid by finishing the regular season 11-1. They shouldn't be punished for playing in and losing an extra game Alabama didn't play in.
The real debate might come down to Alabama and South Carolina for the 12th and final playoff spot. The hate for the Crimson Tide in the national media and amongst neutral fans has talk increasing for the Gamecocks to leapfrog the Crimson Tide into the playoff field.
South Carolina has been hot, reeling off six consecutive wins to finish the regular season. Like Alabama, the Gamecocks have three ranked wins on their resume, besting Texas A&M, Missouri, and Clemson.
I can't help but remember last season when there was light chatter about a red-hot Alabama team and the College Football Playoff. It was a non-starter to even consider that it might leapfrog Texas in the rankings because the Longhorns had won the head-to-head matchup, even though that matchup happened in the second weekend of the regular season.
If we're going to stick to that logic, and the playoff committee's standards include head-to-head results as heavy criteria, then there's no debate about Alabama and South Carolina because it was settled on the field:
And if head-to-head results are supposed to carry a lot of weight, then South Carolina should not be the other three-loss SEC team in the running with Alabama. Because the Gamecocks also lost to Ole Miss, who ranked just ahead of them in the rankings last week.
The Rebels blew out South Carolina 27-3 in Columbia. Jumping South Carolina over them would be ludicrous.
The on field results have to matter. If they don't, then what are we even doing?
The real debate would then be Alabama and Ole Miss, which isn't much of a debate, either. Ole Miss has the worst loss of any of the three SEC playoff bubble teams, losing at home to a 4-8 Kentucky team. They also only have the one ranked win, albeit over Georgia.
If it comes down to one of the three loss SEC teams for the final playoff spot, the choice is clear.
Whether you like it or not.