Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer Pitches Why Alabama is a Playoff Team Despite Beatdown by Georgia

ATLANTA, Ga. - After Alabama's disgusting beatdown by the Georgia Bulldogs, the Tide's playoff chances are in flux, with Alabama currently at -320 to make the College Football Playoffs, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

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The Tide's resume is a confusing one, with Alabama's three losses coming in a double-digit loss to 5-7 Florida State, a two-point loss to No. 8 Oklahoma, and a three-touchdown loss to No. 3 Georgia in the SEC Championship game. Last season, the CFP committee set the precedent that losers of the conference championship game would not be punished for losing the extra game, when SMU lost the ACC Championship to Clemson, but still got in the playoffs over Alabama. However, SMU lost on a last-second field goal, and Alabama was thrashed by Georgia.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer still thinks the Crimson Tide is a playoff-worthy team despite the Saturday night thrashing by Georgia.

"You look at the games we played throughout the season. If you're really looking at this game, it was a 14-point game with seven and a half minutes to go, and we had the ball. You can look at things that didn't go well. We gave them four short fields.

"I don't want to take anything away from what Georgia did. The field position battle is part of it. Four short fields, that's a testament to our defense being resilient. One of those touchdowns, if we're really worried about the score, probably punt it on your own 11. I'm here to win an SEC Championship. If you lose by one or you lose by more, it's still a loss. That's what I was caring about. We're here to win an SEC Championship. We can't get worried about how much do we lose by... That's what it was about. We're here to win. That's how we play. Again, it was a 14-point game. We had the ball with seven and a half minutes to go against a really good team that knows us well, and we know them well.

"I thought our defense did a heck of a job going against them. One thing we didn't really do is take the ball off 'em. The one turnover they got, short field. Again, that's football. That's the way I looked at this game. If this game applies to and takes away from our résumé, I don't think that's right. I really don't. I think the precedent has been set. I don't know how you can go into a conference Playoff game when you're the No. 1 seed, did all these things throughout the year, and playing in this game against one of the top teams in the country, as well, how that can hurt you and keep you out of the playoffs.

"Again, we've done what we've done all year."

The College Football Playoff rankings show will begin at 11:00 a.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, December 7.

Our coverage of the SEC Championship is brought to you by Pearl River Resort and the Sportsbook at Golden Moon Casino.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.