Playoffs Still in Sight??? Previous Data says YES!

After a tough loss in Knoxville, the Crimson Tide faithful find themselves wondering the same question they have every time after a tough regular season loss, “Are the playoffs still a possibility???”

While it is impossible to give an answer with any certainty, as the College Football Playoff Committee is a fickle and flighty beast, previous experience with the CFB format says that Alabama football still has a chance to see action come New Year’s Eve. Moving on to some hypothetical situations, get ready to see what it takes for the Bryce Young, Will Anderson, and company to keep championship aspirations alive.

What Alabama Can Control:

Unfortunately for the Tide, in order to reach the college football post season some situations will have to happen that are out of their control. However, all the hypothetical scenarios in the world don’t mean a thing unless Alabama wins out the rest of their regular season.

The Crimson Tide take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Saturday (10/22) at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN. This matchup along with the road trip to hostile territory against the unbeaten Ole Miss Rebels is anything other than a cakewalk for the boys in Crimson. If Alabama wins out the rest of the regular season they will win the SEC West and face a rematch between Tennessee in yesterday’s loss to the Volunteers or to the Georgia Bulldogs who beat the Crimson Tide in last years national championship. If Alabama wins out from here, they will be in strong contention to make the College Football Playoffs.

What Alabama Can’t Control:

Now that Alabama has (hypothetically) won out, it’s time to take a look at different postseason standings that could potentially lead to the Crimson Tide making the playoffs once again.

Ohio State has been on a roll lately, and will likely win the BIG10, and even if they don’t win out that means a perfect season Michigan will likely take their place. In either scenario an undefeated or one loss BIG10 team is likely to make the playoffs securing one of the coveted positions.

Clemson continues to roll through the ACC and barring an unforeseen loss they should also claim a spot in the committee’s eyes.

Now that there is no undefeated teams in either the BIG12 or in the PAC-12, with Oklahoma State and USC losing their games on Saturday, the doors to the playoffs are wide open for some one loss teams to crack the lineup.

Assuming that Alabama wins out against either the team that beat them earlier in the season, being Tennessee, or the reigning national champs, in the Georgia Bulldogs, there is plenty of hope for the Crimson Tide and company to perhaps make it all the way to Inglewood and participate in the national championship. After all, of the six rings that Alabama has won under Nick Saban, only two of those teams were undefeated.

Long story short, don’t lose hope Crimson Tide faithful, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.