For what it's worth many believe if everything goes as planned on Championship Saturday the final spot will come down to Alabama, South Carolina, or Ole Miss. All three as we know have three losses but find themselves still very much alive in playoff discussion despite none of the three playing this weekend. There is a strong debate for all three teams but at the end of the day Alabama is just a step above the other two teams.
Let's start with South Carolina who may arguably be the hottest team in America. The Gamecocks have not lost since mid-October but the part that hurts them is that loss was to Alabama. At the end of the day, it appears the playoff committee greatly values head-to-head when comparing teams.
The Crimson Tide beat them in a wild affair and before that Ole Miss dominated them in Columbia. So with both teams having victories over Shane Beamer's team, the final spot should come down to who the committee feels is a stronger candidate between Alabama and Ole Miss.
In the new SEC, these two teams no longer play each other every year so we lose the head-to-head option, so it comes down to how each faired against common opponents. This is tricky as the Rebels have a better victory against South Carolina on the road as well as a win over Oklahoma. Alabama blew out LSU in Baton Rouge while Lane Kiffin's team lost by a couple of points in overtime. It appears it is near a wash when comparing games.
However, Alabama benefits from its name and championship history as well as having lost all its games on the road. Ole Miss getting dominated by a bad Kentucky is the worst loss when comparing both three-loss teams. Of course, this final playoff spot going to a 3-loss Alabama team is based on everything going smoothly on championship Saturday.
This season has been a wild one and I wouldn't expect anything different this weekend. One team that could push Alabama back out of the playoff is if Clemson beats SMU in the ACC championship game. As we know the Tide can only watch from afar as results come in on Championship Saturday in hopes the results best benefit their cause of being the first three-loss team to make a playoff appearance. No matter how things go this will be a Saturday that will be remembered for a long time.