Alabama Falls Short of College Football Playoff

Tuscaloosa, AL - The Alabama Crimson Tide finished with a 9-3 record to end the regular season and was projected to be in the 12-team College Football Playoff as of last week. All Alabama needed was chalk to hold and the favorites to win during conference championship weekend, and Alabama would be in the playoffs.

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There is a reason games are played on the field, and not on paper.

Alabama would likely be in the playoffs if two of three possible outcomes happened in the ACC Championship game: SMU defeating Clemson or Clemson blowing out SMU.

Clemson opened the game with a 21-7 lead, and Alabama fans were rooting for Dabo Swinney, the Alabama alum, to help out his former team. Clemson blew the lead, SMU tied the game, and then Clemson's true freshman kicker, Nolan Hauser, jogged onto the field and drilled a 56-yard field goal to win the ACC, and earn Clemson an automatic bid into the College Football Playoffs.

Then the debate started. Alabama or SMU?

The Committee answered that question on Sunday morning, leaving Alabama out of the College Football Playoff.

Here is the full bracket from the College Football Playoff Committee:

Teams with a Bye 

1 - Oregon
2 - Georgia
3 - Boise State
4 - Arizona State

No. 5 Texas hosts No. 12 Clemson
No. 6 Penn State hosts No. 11 SMU
No. 7 Notre Dame hosts No. 10 Indiana
No. 8 Ohio State hosts No. 9 Tennessee

Alabama comes in at No. 11 in the ranking, and the first team out of the College Football Playoff. The second team out is No. 13 Miami.

Stay tuned as the playoff committee unveils where Alabama will play its bowl game and who the Crimson Tide will face off against in that game. 

Here is the full top-12 from the College Football Playoff Committee:

1 - Oregon*
2 - Georgia*
3 - Texas
4 - Penn State
5 - Notre Dame
6 - Ohio State
7 - Tennessee
8 -Indiana
9 - Boise State*
10 - SMU
11 - Alabama
12 - Arizona State*
16 - Clemson*

First Team Out: Alabama
Second Team Out: Miami

*Won conference championship.