All Things Alabama

[NDRock]

Not sure if it is just me but it seems like there has been very few big time games this year (LSU/Bama notwithstanding) and especially out of conference match ups. Was looking at some schedules from the 80’s, when I grew up. Bama’s 1986 schedule was:

Ohio State
Vanderbilt
Southern Miss
Florida
Notre Dame
Memphis State
Tennessee
Penn State
Mississippi State
LSU
Temple
Auburn
Washington (bowl game)

I liked college football way better when big time teams actually played each other.

 

[Wild Bill]

Saban isn't coming to ND, but if BK were to retire or go NFL...I would chew glass to see Sark as head coach and keep Lea as DC.

Drunk sark?

 

[ACamp1900]

They've got in twice with one loss, and one the NC both times. So they've kinda proven why they should get the benefit of the doubt.

I’ve discussed why I disagree with this logic in the past numerous times.

 

[Irish YJ]

I’ve discussed why I disagree with this logic in the past numerous times.

Agree or disagree, doesn't really matter. It's what is, and bound to be a part of the thinking for some of the committee. You're either in the camp of who "deserves" a spot, or who are the 4 actual best. Right now I can see LSU, OSU, and Clemson beating Bama. I can't honestly envision any of the other teams beating Bama.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Agree or disagree, doesn't really matter. It's what is, and bound to be a part of the thinking for some of the committee. You're either in the camp of who "deserves" a spot, or who are the 4 actual best. Right now I can see LSU, OSU, and Clemson beating Bama. I can't honestly envision any of the other teams beating Bama.

Most years Bama has a win or two that helps back up "the eye test". This year, its A&M? Maybe Auburn by end of the year?

Bama is a great team that got beat by a better team. But at some point, Bama has to prove it just like everyone else. And in my book, good wins trump lack of bad losses every day of the week. Right now, Bama only has lack of a bad loss.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Agree or disagree, doesn't really matter. It's what is, and bound to be a part of the thinking for some of the committee. You're either in the camp of who "deserves" a spot, or who are the 4 actual best. Right now I can see LSU, OSU, and Clemson beating Bama. I can't honestly envision any of the other teams beating Bama.

There are several here who are in the "deserves" camp, but the committee has always said their mission is to choose the four best teams, and their voting every year has clearly shown that they adhere to that. Things like SOS, quality of wins and losses, conference championships, eye test, stats, and etc. are all just parts of the equation to determine who's best. None of them are the one & only measure as a few sometime argue.

 

[irishtrooper]

Agree or disagree, doesn't really matter. It's what is, and bound to be a part of the thinking for some of the committee. You're either in the camp of who "deserves" a spot, or who are the 4 actual best. Right now I can see LSU, OSU, and Clemson beating Bama. I can't honestly envision any of the other teams beating Bama.

You can argue all you want,but Bama will not get in over Oregon assuming OU wins out. Plus they’d have to get in over Ok if they win out. Most likely is OSU, LSU, Clemson and OU or Ok. You’re on crack if you think Bama gets in over 2 one loss conference champs. Another plausible scenario is GA beats LSU, then LSU gets in over Bama (assuming it isn’t a blowout). Bama can get in, but hey need a lot to go their way (like it seems to every year). I just can’t see OSU or Clemson losing, not to mention the other stuff as well

 

[Bishop2b5]

You can argue all you want,but Bama will not get in over Oregon assuming OU wins out. Plus they’d have to get in over Ok if they win out. Most likely is OSU, LSU, Clemson and OU or Ok. You’re on crack if you think Bama gets in over 2 one loss conference champs. Another plausible scenario is GA beats LSU, then LSU gets in over Bama (assuming it isn’t a blowout). Bama can get in, but hey need a lot to go their way (like it seems to every year). I just can’t see OSU or Clemson losing, not to mention the other stuff as well

I think we probably see OSU, LSU, OU and Clemson. Bama doesn't get in over a B12 champ OU, but might over a PAC12 champ Oregon.

 

[irishtrooper]

I think we probably see OSU, LSU, OU and Clemson. Bama doesn't get in over a B12 champ OU, but might over a PAC12 champ Oregon.

I disagree but it’s certainly possible. The only leg to stand on would be Auburn, but it’s opposite ends of the year, neutral vs home loss, conference champ vs can’t even win their division, body of work.

Bama has the eye test and Auburn. Plus the obvious historical data (probably shouldn’t matter) and he fact they’d be favored. I’m of the belief that the committee would not be able to justify it based on all of the things they’ve preached over the last several years. All that being said, they still have a shot. Crazier things have happened. I do think Bama is a top 4 team. Then again I think it’s pretty typical the “best 4” don’t necessarily get in each year either.

 

[Irish YJ]

Most years Bama has a win or two that helps back up "the eye test". This year, its A&M? Maybe Auburn by end of the year?

Bama is a great team that got beat by a better team. But at some point, Bama has to prove it just like everyone else. And in my book, good wins trump lack of bad losses every day of the week. Right now, Bama only has lack of a bad loss.

Bama has handled everyone on their schedule (like they should) by 20ish or more points. Their only loss to LSU by 5. If they win their rivalry game vs Auburn, what other one loss team has a better resume?

Oregon who got beat by Auburn and plays in a weak Pac12? UGA, that will likely get throttled by LSU anyway? Utah who lost to USC? OK who lost to KSU? PSU who tripped to MN? None of those teams have a great resume of quality wins, or better losses. Only MN and Baylor have a chance to be spoiler IMO if Bama wins out.

 

[Irish YJ]

There are several here who are in the "deserves" camp, but the committee has always said their mission is to choose the four best teams, and their voting every year has clearly shown that they adhere to that. Things like SOS, quality of wins and losses, conference championships, eye test, stats, and etc. are all just parts of the equation to determine who's best. None of them are the one & only measure as a few sometime argue.

I'm firmly in the "deserves" camp if we are talking about an undefeated P5 (or even non P5) team,,,,,,,, but when it comes to one-loss teams, it becomes strictly about "best". If Baylor wins out, I'd put them in because they're undefeated and won their P5 CC.

The only one loss team (other than LSU should they stumble some how, or UGA should they win out) I might put in over a one loss Bama would be OSU if they somehow lose a close weird one to MN in the Big10 CC. And even then I'd have to think long and hard.

 

[Irish YJ]

You can argue all you want,but Bama will not get in over Oregon assuming OU wins out. Plus they’d have to get in over Ok if they win out. Most likely is OSU, LSU, Clemson and OU or Ok. You’re on crack if you think Bama gets in over 2 one loss conference champs. Another plausible scenario is GA beats LSU, then LSU gets in over Bama (assuming it isn’t a blowout). Bama can get in, but hey need a lot to go their way (like it seems to every year). I just can’t see OSU or Clemson losing, not to mention the other stuff as well

You're talking "deserves", not best then (which I'm talking).

 

[Ndaccountant]

Bama has handled everyone on their schedule (like they should) by 20ish or more points. Their only loss to LSU by 5. If they win their rivalry game vs Auburn, what other one loss team has a better resume?

Oregon who got beat by Auburn and plays in a weak Pac12? UGA, that will likely get throttled by LSU anyway? Utah who lost to USC? OK who lost to KSU? PSU who tripped to MN? None of those teams have a great resume of quality wins, or better losses. Only MN and Baylor have a chance to be spoiler IMO if Bama wins out.

Maybe. Let's see where the chips fall. UGA right now has the better resume IMO. The wind over ND and UF outweigh the loss to USC. But lots of football to be played.

 

[ickythump1225]

The committee has to know Oregon in the Playoffs is an easy win for whomever gets the draw to play then. Oregon lost to the 5th best team in the SEC. It would be a bloodbath.

I'm pretty sure that's not how college football works but go off.

 

[ickythump1225]

Bama has handled everyone on their schedule (like they should) by 20ish or more points. Their only loss to LSU by 5. If they win their rivalry game vs Auburn, what other one loss team has a better resume?

Oregon who got beat by Auburn and plays in a weak Pac12? UGA, that will likely get throttled by LSU anyway? Utah who lost to USC? OK who lost to KSU? PSU who tripped to MN? None of those teams have a great resume of quality wins, or better losses. Only MN and Baylor have a chance to be spoiler IMO if Bama wins out.

Yeah but if Oregon wins the Pac-12 it's likely over a 1 loss Utah (you could even reverse this and it would still be true) which either way would be better than any of Alabama's wins. Alabama doesn't have a top 25 record and they've only beaten like what 3 teams with a record better than .500? They've lost to the one good team they've played this year and kudos to them to fight back and make it look better from an optics stand point but their defense got absolutely blasted. With the exception of a few drives in the 3rd quarter LSU moved the ball at will against Alabama. They hung 33 on them in the first half alone and where up by 20 at halftime.

I see a lot of the "best loss" argument floated here but when has the CFP committee ever indicated they buy that line of reasoning? I don't care who Alabama lost to, by season's end who will they be able to say they've beaten? A (likely) 4 loss Auburn team and a middling Texas A&M. If they get into the CFP with that resume the whole thing is a joke and we should burn it down and start over with something else.

 

[irishtrooper]

You're talking "deserves", not best then (which I'm talking).

Agree. I believe there’s just too much ‘splainin to do to put Bama in (even though they’re probably “better”). Sometimes better doesn’t matter though. This is the argument the SEC people had last year trying to put GA in over an undefeated ND. You might be great, but who did you actually beat and what is your actual resume? I would enjoy the scrambling and tap dancing that would occur to put in Bama over 2 one loss conf champs, but I don’t think it’ll happen

 

[Wingman Ray]

Yeah but if Oregon wins the Pac-12 it's likely over a 1 loss Utah (you could even reverse this and it would still be true) which either way would be better than any of Alabama's wins. Alabama doesn't have a top 25 record and they've only beaten like what 3 teams with a record better than .500? They've lost to the one good team they've played this year and kudos to them to fight back and make it look better from an optics stand point but their defense got absolutely blasted. With the exception of a few drives in the 3rd quarter LSU moved the ball at will against Alabama. They hung 33 on them in the first half alone and where up by 20 at halftime.

I see a lot of the "best loss" argument floated here but when has the CFP committee ever indicated they buy that line of reasoning? I don't care who Alabama lost to, by season's end who will they be able to say they've beaten? A (likely) 4 loss Auburn team and a middling Texas A&M. If they get into the CFP with that resume the whole thing is a joke and we should burn it down and start over with something else.

Can you give me any other playoff bound team that has a top 25 record and have beaten three teams with a record better than .500?

Your have the B10 which is flipping terrible. OSU has played absolutely zero good teams. Minn? Wis? Mich? Give me a break. None of those teams would last ten minutes versus a playoff bound team. Can you imagine any of those lining up vs Bama? That would be over by halftime. If you doubt, go ask Michigan who tried it.

Your likely 4 loss Auburn team beat Oregon on a neutral field. The same Oregon who has played exactly no one else all year with a remote pulse.

Yes LSU was the better team vs Bama no doubt. But Bama is better than any of the others all day.

 

[Wild Bill]

Can you give me any other playoff bound team that has a top 25 record and have beaten three teams with a record better than .500?

Your have the B10 which is flipping terrible. OSU has played absolutely zero good teams. Minn? Wis? Mich? Give me a break. None of those teams would last ten minutes versus a playoff bound team. Can you imagine any of those lining up vs Bama? That would be over by halftime. If you doubt, go ask Michigan who tried it.

Your likely 4 loss Auburn team beat Oregon on a neutral field. The same Oregon who has played exactly no one else all year with a remote pulse.

Yes LSU was the better team vs Bama no doubt. But Bama is better than any of the others all day.

With the exception of LSU, has bama played anyone better than Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State or even Cincinnati?

 

[Wingman Ray]

With the exception of LSU, has bama played anyone better than Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State or even Cincinnati?

Agree 100%. Bamas schedule is criminally and shamefully bad. Prime example of scheduling for a playoff run. Saban and the AD should be completely ashamed of themselves and the season ticket holders should feel like they got mugged.

But if we are being honest with ourselves, putting Bama against Wis, Mich, PS or Cinn and it is a bad day for those teams.

 

[Wild Bill]

Agree 100%. Bamas schedule is criminally and shamefully bad. Prime example of scheduling for a playoff run. Saban and the AD should be completely ashamed of themselves and the season ticket holders should feel like they got mugged.

But if we are being honest with ourselves, putting Bama against Wis, Mich, PS or Cinn and it is a bad day for those teams.

Maybe. But to be fair, you weren't optimistic about LSU's chances either.

No way in Hades does LSU win that game vs Bama. LSU has NO defense and went down to the wire with Texas who is far from a worldbeater. Other than that, LSU hasnt played anyone with a pulse. Im sorry but FL isnt impressive at all.

Bama will bench that QB of LSU's the hard way and the Tigers will fall apart. #calleditherefirst

The games matter more to me than the eyeball test. The only thing I know about bama thus far is that they're talented enough to pound bad teams and they got worked by the one quality opponent on their schedule.

 

[ACamp1900]

Agree 100%. Bamas schedule is criminally and shamefully bad. Prime example of scheduling for a playoff run. Saban and the AD should be completely ashamed of themselves and the season ticket holders should feel like they got mugged.

But if we are being honest with ourselves, putting Bama against Wis, Mich, PS or Cinn and it is a bad day for those teams.

If you put all of them on Bama's schedule instead of the 'bye weeks' they usually have then even Bama drops multiple games most years...

 

[Irish#1]

Not sure if it is just me but it seems like there has been very few big time games this year (LSU/Bama notwithstanding) and especially out of conference match ups. Was looking at some schedules from the 80’s, when I grew up. Bama’s 1986 schedule was:

Ohio State
Vanderbilt
Southern Miss
Florida
Notre Dame
Memphis State
Tennessee
Penn State
Mississippi State
LSU
Temple
Auburn
Washington (bowl game)

I liked college football way better when big time teams actually played each other.

Agree, seems like we don't see these games nearly as often and when they do, they play on a neutral field. ND/UGA or LSU/Bama type games is what college FB is about.

 

[Irish#1]

I will be shocked if Bama wins out and isn't in the playoffs. Assuming LSU, OSU, Clemson and Bama win out, there are your four playoff teams.

Rinse, repeat.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Agree 100%. Bamas schedule is criminally and shamefully bad. Prime example of scheduling for a playoff run. Saban and the AD should be completely ashamed of themselves and the season ticket holders should feel like they got mugged.

But if we are being honest with ourselves, putting Bama against Wis, Mich, PS or Cinn and it is a bad day for those teams.

Actually Bama agreed to play the kickoff game this year in Atlanta against an unknown ACC team. The only team that accepted was Duke. For all his yapping, Dabo had a chance to sign up and play Bama to kick off the year. He punted. So he can take a hike with his BS.

Now, the rest of the OOC schedule was garbage and the main reason I felt like Bama needed to run the table to get in. As far as the SEC, it's not Bama's place to play down to the other teams in the conference. It's their place to play up. Most of those teams, while decent, aren't there.

With all that said, I don't know if Bama is one of the four best teams in the country this year. They may very well be. But IMO they needed to win out to erase any doubt. They didn't and if they aren't in the playoffs then it's not that big of a deal to me. There is still too much football left to play and a lot can happen - just like most years in CFB. We will see who is standing at the end.

 

[Wild Bill]

I will be shocked if Bama wins out and isn't in the playoffs. Assuming LSU, OSU, Clemson and Bama win out, there are your four playoff teams.

Rinse, repeat.

Anything is possible and it wouldn't shock me. Most fans are confident this will happen bc it's happened before, I believe in 2017. However, that year was a bit strange b/c two teams in the top four going into the conference title games lost - Auburn and Wisconsin.

Georgia beat Auburn and basically swapped spots in the rankings, and the committee took a one loss Bama team over a two loss BIG champ OSU, a two loss PAC champ USC, and a one loss Wisconsin team that didn't win the BIG. Basically, bama got in by default.

I'm just not confident they'll get in this year over a one loss PAC champ, whether it's Utah or Oregon AND/OR a one loss Big 12 champ Oklahoma.

With all that said, I don't know if Bama is one of the four best teams in the country this year. They may very well be. But IMO they needed to win out to erase any doubt. They didn't and if they aren't in the playoffs then it's not that big of a deal to me. There is still too much football left to play and a lot can happen - just like most years in CFB. We will see who is standing at the end.

Exactly where I'm at too.

 

[Luckylucci]

If you put all of them on Bama's schedule instead of the 'bye weeks' they usually have then even Bama drops multiple games most years...

And that's the issue for me. I think the committee wants to start setting some type of precedent on SOS. I think it's really going to hurt to play an 8 game conference slate, 2 FCS teams, weak OOC slate in general, 2 byes, not win the conference or division (for that matter), therefore not play a 13th game, and expect to get in over 1 loss conference champions. Even if you perceive that conference to be down.

Personally, I don't think the committee should be in charge of judging based on the "eye test". There are too many different affiliations that make the process too subjective when we discuss "eye test".

 

[Irish#1]

Anything is possible and it wouldn't shock me. Most fans are confident this will happen bc it's happened before, I believe in 2017. However, that year was a bit strange b/c two teams in the top four going into the conference title games lost - Auburn and Wisconsin.

Georgia beat Auburn and basically swapped spots in the rankings, and the committee took a one loss Bama team over a two loss BIG champ OSU, a two loss PAC champ USC, and a one loss Wisconsin team that didn't win the BIG. Basically, bama got in by default.

I'm just not confident they'll get in this year over a one loss PAC champ, whether it's Utah or Oregon AND/OR a one loss Big 12 champ Oklahoma.

The question is how much value will the committee place on winning the conference over not winning the conference when both teams have 1 loss?

Better loss, Bama, Oregon or Utah? Bama
Stronger conference schedule, Bama, Oregon or Utah? Bama
SOS,Bama, Oregon or Utah? Bama

Keep in mind that UCF was an undefeated conference champ last year. They weren't a P5 school, but the committee basically ignored what they did and took a 1 loss OU team.

 

[irishtrooper]

UCF! Come on, that’s apples/oranges. Bama is not getting in over Oregon/Utah or Oklahoma (if they win out) assuming OSU, LSU (or GA), Clemson do what they’re supposed to do. I can’t believe that this is even a discussion. It will not happen. It’s been mentioned why they snuck in last time they lost their division. Even their own (level-headed) fans admit this and it’s just not happening.

That being said I would enjoy it as it would almost definitely cause the playoff to expand due to conference outrage. Bama is awesome, but its resume isn’t impressive this year.

 

[Luckylucci]

UCF! Come on, that’s apples/oranges. Bama is not getting in over Oregon/Utah or Oklahoma (if they win out) assuming OSU, LSU (or GA), Clemson do what they’re supposed to do. I can’t believe that this is even a discussion. It will not happen. It’s been mentioned why they snuck in last time they lost their division. Even their own (level-headed) fans admit this and it’s just not happening.

That being said I would enjoy it as it would almost definitely cause the playoff to expand due to conference outrage. Bama is awesome, but its resume isn’t impressive this year.

Agreed. I realize the Pac12 and Big 12 are down but this isn't very relevant, IMO.

 

[Irish#1]

UCF! Come on, that’s apples/oranges. Bama is not getting in over Oregon/Utah or Oklahoma (if they win out) assuming OSU, LSU (or GA), Clemson do what they’re supposed to do. I can’t believe that this is even a discussion. It will not happen. It’s been mentioned why they snuck in last time they lost their division. Even their own (level-headed) fans admit this and it’s just not happening.

That being said I would enjoy it as it would almost definitely cause the playoff to expand due to conference outrage. Bama is awesome, but its resume isn’t impressive this year.

They've said before they want the four best teams. If Bama wins out, they will have beaten Auburn who beat Oregon. Right now the standings have Bama as next team in.