SMU Head Coach Says Alabama Should Have Been in CFP Last Season

December 8, 2024, was a rough morning for the Crimson Tide faithful; a stark contrast to the previous selection Sunday after the 2023 College Football Season. In 2023, the Tide jumped for joy after earning the final bid into the four-team College Football Playoffs, jumping Georgia (who the Tide defeated in the SEC Championship), and Florida State, who lost their starting quarterback but still went undefeated and won the ACC.

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In 2024, it was a gloomy morning in Tuscaloosa, matching the feeling of the Crimson Tide fans as the College Football Playoff selection show began. The Tide needed a definitive outcome in the ACC Championship between Clemson and SMU the night before. SMU raced out to a 21-point lead before Clemson stormed back and won on a last-second field goal, earning the Tigers an automatic bid into the College Football Playoffs. The close loss was enough for the CFP Committee to rank the Mustangs ahead of the Crimson Tide, leaving Alabama out of the College Football Playoffs.

However, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee didn't feel confident going into the show.

I felt like we definitely deserved to be in, but after we came up just short about 12 hours earlier in that ACC Championship game with Clemson, I cannot say I felt great," Lashlee told The Next Round on Tuesday morning. "The way it looked like it was shaping up to be us or Alabama, which I'm not sure that's the way it should've shaped up.

"We both should have been in," Lashlee admitted. He did not say who the Crimson Tide should have been in the playoffs over, and the Committee disagreed with Lashlee's thoughts.

"But obviously, that morning when we got the news, it was really special and pretty cool for my family, our staff, our team," Lashlee said. "Then, I kind of figured out shortly after that I'm not sure if I was a more disliked person in the state of Alabama then or after the Kick Six. But we were in and I was good with it."

Lashlee was the Auburn Tigers' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2013, the year of the infamous kick-six. It was his second stint with the Tigers, serving as a graduate assistant in 2009 and 2010, and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2016.

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_.