The Alabama Crimson Tide is headed back to the College Football Playoff.
After much speculation following Alabama’s largely dominating loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship on Saturday, many wondered whether or not the Tide could be left out of the playoff field entirely.
Instead, Kalen DeBoer’s squad did not even drop a spot in the field and came in ranked No. 9 in the final playoff rankings.
This gives Alabama another chance at revenge against the Oklahoma Sooners, who they will face this Friday evening on the road for the right to take on the No. 1 seeded Indiana Hoosiers.
The full playoff field is as follows.
- No. 1: Indiana Hoosiers
- No. 2: Ohio State Buckeyes
- No. 3: Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 4: Texas Tech Red Raiders
- No. 5: Oregon Ducks
- No. 6: Ole Miss Rebels
- No. 7: Texas A&M Aggies
- No. 8: Oklahoma Sooners
- No. 9: Alabama Crimson Tide
- No. 10: Miami Hurricans
- No. 11: Tulane Green Wave
- No. 12: James Madison Dukes
This means that the other first round games include Ole Miss hosting Tulane in another rematch (the Rebels dominated the Green Wave earlier this season), while Oregon will host James Madison and Miami hits the road to face Texas A&M.
Controversially, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were left out of the field entirely in favor of Miami and Alabama.
For Alabama, the path sets up as favorably as Tide fans could ask for, opening as a slight favorite against Oklahoma.
Should they escape Norman with a win, it would be a matchup against an Indiana team who while very impressive are beatable, and the next game would be likely either Texas Tech or Oregon for a chance to reach the national title game.
SEC Champion meanwhile will likely face Ole Miss if the Rebels can defeat Tulane, while Ohio State awaits the winner of Texas A&M and Miami.
It’s all going to start less than two weeks from now for Alabama, taking on the Sooners in a standalone Friday night game on December 19 at 7:00 p.m. CST.
Fans can no longer have to concern themselves with rankings, who’s in and who’s out. the committee and the selection process.
That’s all out of the way now. It’s time to spot the ball and run the playoff football gauntlet.
