Alabama will learn its updated standing in the College Football Playoff (CFP) hunt Tuesday after the selection committee unveils its weekly rankings.
Given that No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 2 Ohio State in dominating fashion Saturday, in addition to No. 5 LSU and No. 8 Clemson losing, Nick Saban and his seventh-ranked Tide still have the opportunity to finish as a top-four team.
Should TCU and USC, which are ranked fourth and sixth respectively, lose their conference championship games, Alabama’s playoff chances will continue to increase.
Fresh off an impressive 49-27 Iron Bowl victory, the Tide remains hopeful it can maneuver its way into the CFP when the final rankings are released Dec. 4.
During his postgame press conference Saturday, Saban touted his squad’s playoff resume. The Tide’s head coach mentioned that Alabama’s only losses have come to upper-tier programs on the last play of the game.
“It’s a great opportunity for our team to be considered. I think we lost two games on the road against top-10 teams by four points,” said Saban. “So, we’re a good football team and hopefully people will recognize that.”
Saban, who publicly campaigned for Alabama’s inclusion in the 2017 CFP, was asked if he would partake in a lobbying effort on behalf of his team.
“Look, if I think it’ll help our team, I’ll certainly do that. I haven’t really thought about it to this point,” he said. “My whole focus was to win this game. That was the best opportunity we had for anything good to happen for us.”
Alabama is predicted to land at the No. 6 slot in Tuesday’s CFP rankings. Should the Big 12 and PAC 10 conference championship games work in its favor, the Tide could become the first two-loss team to earn a playoff berth.
TCU will face No. 13 Kansas State at 11 a.m. Saturday. Fox will broadcast the game from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
USC will face No. 12 Utah at 7 p.m. Friday. The game will also be carried by Fox and broadcast from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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