College football was turned upside down this past weekend with several upsets that may have opened the door to let Alabama back into the College Football Playoff conversation.
The dominos started falling with Michigan’s win over Ohio State. Not only did the Wolverines defeat the Buckeyes, but they destroyed them, 45-23.
The next domino that fell was No. 5 LSU losing to Texas A&M. Outside of Georgia, many thought the only other SEC team that had a chance to get into the playoffs was the Tigers, assuming they beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday.
TCU and USC won on Saturday but conventional wisdom says the committee will have to decide between either two-loss Alabama or one-loss Ohio State if either of those teams loses in their conference championships.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is well aware that his team may be back in the CFP conversation after their victory over Auburn on Saturday. Like any coach would do in this situation, he is advocating for his 10-2 team to get in.
“I don’t make those decisions, but I know what a resilient football team this has been,” Saban told ESPN. “We’ve lost two games to top-10 opponents, both on the last play of the game and both on the road. We could have easily won both games but didn’t. We’re a good football team and hopefully, people will recognize that and we’ll get a chance.”
If Alabama doesn’t get in, they will still be in a New Year’s 6 bowl. Most likely, they’ll either play in the Sugar Bowl or Orange Bowl. Not a bad consolation prize for a team that had an “off” year.
{ESPN}
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.