Alabama football’s Kalen DeBoer doesn’t hold back on CFP debate before SEC championship

Last year, Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama football team missed out on the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP) because they had three losses. And this year, there is some belief that the Crimson Tide, despite being on the cusp of another SEC championship, could miss out on another playoff berth for similar seasons.

While ‘Bama last season lost three of its 12 regular-season games, which led to it being on the outside looking in when the playoff committee put together the field, the Tide are 10-2 heading into this weekend’s SEC Championship Game vs. Georgia. Still, a loss in the extra game, which would also come against the team Alabama receives the most credit and praise for beating, has been suggested as a playoff eliminator by some.

DeBoer, though, isn’t buying it.

“I mean, it kind of blows my mind,” DeBoer said of the idea the Tide could miss the playoff with a loss [h/t Bama 247’s Mike Rodak]. “That’s the exact words I used before, that we’re really having this debate. I don’t say that with any arrogance, ’cause I understand there’s a lot of good football teams out there. But we earned getting to this point. We’re 4-1 against ranked teams. Two points away from being 5-0 against ranked teams throughout the year. Every A4 team we played except Wisconsin this season, before, during, or after us was ranked.

“Again, 7-1 record, two points from being 8-0, 4-0 on the road in the second — that jumps out at me. That’s hard to do in the environments. Our guys have been tested. Teams coming off byes. It doesn’t matter. Our guys have been tested. We get to this point, we are playoff-ready. We are focused on this game. We have not had one conversation about that. But we want to take care of business this Saturday and enjoy, again, the opportunity that lies right in front of us to play in the SEC championship.”

In some ways, DeBoer’s future may lie in the hands of the committee, considering the criticism he received during and after last season’s playoff-less campaign, as well as the furor of which he was at the center following an early-season loss to Florida State a few months ago. Although it would seem counterintuitive to fire a head coach after a conference title game berth, if Alabama were to miss out on the CFP again this year, it would not be terribly surprising if the Tide faithful successfully called for DeBoer’s job.

Still, it would seem unlikely that any of that happens, even Alabama being left out of the 12-team field.

In the penultimate rankings, Alabama was in ninth place, ahead of the likes of Notre Dame, Miami, Texas, and Vanderbilt, all of whom do not play in a conference championship game this weekend. And while BYU, which is 11-1 and plays No. 4 Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game this weekend, could jump the Tide with a Cougars win and a ‘Bama loss, the committee established last year that teams playing a 13th game would not be jumped by idle teams.

If the committee stays consistent, a common criticism of the overwhelmingly unpopular body, that would mean that Alabama should only slide to 10th place in the final rankings with a loss and a BYU win. But the catch is that the playoff first guarantees the five-highest-ranked conference champions a spot in the playoff, and if BYU beats Tech and Alabama loses to Georgia, the committee would almost certainly take the Big Ten champion (either Ohio State or Indiana), Georgia (SEC), BYU (Big 12), and some combination of Virginia, who plays Duke in the ACC title game, James Madison, who plays Troy for the Sun Belt championship, and either North Texas or Tulane, who play each other in the American championship game.

If that comes to fruition, the non-conference-title-winning teams already ahead of Alabama — the loser of OSU-Indiana, Texas Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Oklahoma — would get their spots before the Tide, who would get the 12th and final position, bumping out two-loss teams No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 12 Miami, and No. 14 Vanderbilt.

That is assuming a lot of things and hoping for some too, so Alabama fans are likely hoping instead that DeBoer continues his win streak against UGA and locks the Tide in for another playoff appearance.

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