Alabama earns spot in CFP, matched up against No. 1 Michigan
The Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate with the SEC Championship trophy after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 27-24 in the SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 02, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Alabama’s win over No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game proved to be just enough for the College Football Playoff committee to give the Crimson Tide the nod over Florida State to earn the fourth and final playoff spot in this year’s playoff.
Alabama will play No. 1 Michigan in the first round with No. 2 Washington taking on No. 3 Texas in the other semifinal. This is the eighth time Alabama will appear in the College Football Playoff, winning the championship three times.
“It was a tough night. I didn’t sleep a lot because there’s a lot of good teams out there,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said on the ESPN broadcast after the playoff was announced. “It’s unfortunate that some good team had to get left out but I really do think our team earned the right to be here.”
In each of the last eight seasons and 16 of the last 17 seasons, the winner of the SEC Championship Game has played in the National Championship but the Crimson Tide will have to get past Michigan to extend that streak.
Florida State becomes the first undefeated Power 5 champion to miss out on the College Football Playoff since the playoff era started in 2014. Starting next season, each Power 5 conference will earn an automatic bid to the 12-team playoff.
There were plenty of doubts entering the selection show on if Alabama would be the first spot outside of the final four for the second consecutive season. However, the Crimson Tide has been given the chance over the Seminoles, likely because of an injury Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis suffered against North Alabama earlier this season.
Florida State won both games without Travis including the ACC Championship Game but the selection committee’s principles list injuries as a consideration when picking the top four.
The selection committee will select the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparable teams considering… other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.
Meanwhile, Alabama is riding an 11-game winning streak since a home loss to Texas, which was a key factor in putting the Longhorns ahead of the Crimson Tide in the rankings. Alabama will now play a second straight game against a team ranked No. 1, looking to extend its winning streak to six games against teams at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings.
Alabama remains perfect against teams ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, moving to 5-0 Saturday.
“The message I would send is we won the SEC. We beat the No. 1 team in the country,” Saban said after the game. “Everyone thought, on the committee, they were the No. 1 team in the country and they won 29 straight games. So if we needed to do something to pass the eye test, I think that probably contributed to it significantly. And if you really want the four best teams to compete, the four most deserving teams that have progressed throughout the season… I think this team is one of the best teams and one of the teams that’s deserving to be in the playoff.”
Alabama is 3-2 all-time against Michigan with the last meeting coming in the 2020 Citrus Bowl at the end of the 2019 season. The Crimson Tide won that game 35-16. The Wolverines have made the playoff for three straight years but have not won a playoff game during that span.
