The Alabama Crimson Tide was on the outside looking in for a College Football Playoff spot Sunday as Clemson earned the No. 12 seed and SMU earned the at-large bid.
Alabama had hoped the College Football Playoff selection committee would review its overall work after the conference championship weekend. The committee had Alabama as the No. 11 seed last week, but the Crimson Tide had no games to play Saturday.
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Crimson Tide head coach Karen DeBoer during a game against the Mercer Bears at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 16, 2024 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images)
Clemson's last-second victory over SMU resulted in both schools qualifying for the 12-team ACC. No. 11 SMU is scheduled to play No. 6 Penn State.
The college football world seemed to rejoice when fans learned that the University of Alabama would miss the playoffs.
Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne made his pitch to the committee late Saturday.
“Strength of schedule is important,” he wrote to X. “Not all schedules and conferences are created equal.
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Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe evades a Tennessee defender on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Knoxville. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
“Six of our eight wins have come against bowl-eligible teams, and we've played some of the top teams in the SEC, including SEC champion Georgia.”
Byrne also posted a graphic showing Alabama ranks third in opponent winning percentage, 17th in ESPN's strength of schedule and has three wins over teams in the College Football Top 25 poll. The team finished with 9 wins and 3 losses, but there were some disastrous losses.
This is the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The field expanded from four teams.
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Karen DeBoer during the LSU game at Tiger Stadium on November 9, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Stephen Lu-Iman image)
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The Crimson Tide made the playoffs last year, but lost to No. 1 Michigan, 27-20. This was Nick Saban's last game as head coach. Karen DeBoer was hired before the start of the 2024 season.
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