GDW debates the Alabama issue for berth into the CFB playoff:
Is Bama worthy of playoff berth at 10 & 3 after what happened Saturday?:
Flash Thoughts:
This commentary by yours truly just slightly past 7:00 p.m. on December 06, 2025 on the fact of whether Alabama is a college football playoff entree at 10 & 3 and after the Tide were whipped in the SEC championship by the Georgia Bulldogs 28 to 7.
Bama: 10 & 3, 7 & 1 in the SEC
Quality wins: Vs. Vanderbilt, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri.
Bad loss: Vs. Florida State.
Hard luck loss: Vs. Oklahoma
Alabama won at Georgia, at Missouri, at South Carolina and Auburn in conference play.
The Tide was 9th in the latest CFB playoff ranking, ahead of Notre Dame, BYU and Miami.
BYU lost the Big XII title game Saturday to Texas Tech. The Cougars 2 losses are to Texas Tech by scores of 29 to 7 in regular season and 34 to 7 in the championship game.
Notre Dame is 10 & 2. Irish started the season with losses to Miami and Texas A&M.
Miami has a 10 & 2 record. The Hurricanes did not qualify for the ACC championship as they lost to Louisville and SMU in conference regular season games.
Projected Top 4 for CFB playoff by Flash:
1. Ohio State (if Buckeyes win Big Ten)
2. Georgia (SEC champion)
3. Texas Tech (Big XII champion)
4. Ole Miss (11 & 1, only loss was to Georgia)
The rest of the playoff field for 2025:
5. Texas A&M (11 & 1, no SEC title game berth)
6. Oklahoma (10 & 2, no SEC title game berth)
7. Indiana (12 & 0, in Big Ten title game)
8. Oregon (11 & 1, no Big Ten title game berth)
9. Notre Dame (10 & 2, 10 game winning streak)
10. Alabama (10 & 3, SEC runner up)
11. BYU (11 & 2, Big XII runner up)
12. Tulane (11 & 2, AAC champion)
Outside looking in:
Miami (10 & 2, no ACC title game berth)
Texas (9 & 3, losses to Ohio State, Florida, Georgia)
Vandy (10 & 2, losses to Bama, Texas)
Utah (10 & 2, losses to BYU and Texas Tech)
What makes this debate so debatable?:
Alabama and BYU suffered huge title game losses Saturday. The committee has to consider of how both got to this position even though they were never in contention of winning the SEC and Big XII championship against Georgia and Texas Tech.
Tulane is an entry for the champion of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). They did play Ole Miss and got beaten soundly in the early part of the season.
For a 10 game winning streak should propel Notre Dame to the playoff, but on the road and what a game it would be if the Irish tangle with state rival Indiana.
It would be in best interest for the committee to next year expand it to 16 teams and eliminate home games in the first round due to some sites will be in a cold weather environment.
Play 2 games at the following sites:
First round to be in Miami, Houston, Pheonix and Pasadena.
Quarterfinals to be in Tampa, Atlanta, Arlington and Los Angeles.
Not everyone is going to be happy from the passionate driven fans of certain schools to loud mouth members of the media that are seen hosting talk shows on ESPN, SEC Network and Fox.
This is my take on whether it carries great value on how it's received by the public or on to my next local sporting assignment.
Photo of Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer with Auburn coach CJ Durkin after Alabama-Auburn game November 29 at Jordan Hare Stadium.
Photo courtesy of 247 Sports.
