Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne lamented that the Crimson Tide was left out of the College Football Playoff on Sunday and suggested the football program would rethink its non-conference schedule.
Byrne had pointed to the Crimson Tide’s strong schedule during the season to explain why Alabama deserved to enter the playoffs as a three-loss team against someone like SMU. Byrne made his case before the bracket was revealed, but the selection committee didn’t take the bait.
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Jalen Milroe, Alabama quarterback (Randy Sartin-Imagn Images/File)
This led to questions about whether strength of schedule mattered to officials deciding the tranche.
“Disappointed with the result and felt like we were one of the top 12 teams in the country,” Byrne wrote on We didn’t play as well as we should have.”
“We said we would need to see how strength of schedule would be evaluated by the CFP. With this result, we will need to (evaluate) how many non-conference P4 games will make sense in the future to put ourselves in the best position . position to participate in the CFP This is not good for college football.
Alabama was ranked No. 11 in the penultimate version. But they didn’t have a conference championship to play for. If SMU had beaten Clemson, the Crimson Tide could have been the team of the tournament.
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama head coach (John Fisher/Getty Images/File)
Alabama misses College Football Playoff bracket, fans cheer
College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chairman Warde Manuel explained why SMU was on the field.
“Your debate on television really sums up the debate in the room,” he said on Saturday Down South. “We looked at Alabama’s number of wins against ranked opponents. We looked at SMU’s schedule and they were undefeated in conference play. Their losses were against ranked teams. But we also looked at Alabama’s losses against unranked teams And that was quite a debate We like the strength of the schedule. That’s why Alabama, as a three-loss team, is ranked ahead of other two-loss teams.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (2) celebrates the team’s 40-35 victory over No. 1 Alabama after an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
“But overall, in the way SMU played that game, losing on a last-second field goal, great Clemson win, great game. We just felt like SMU, in that particular case, still had the green light. 10 over Alabama But that’s not a disrespect to the strength of Alabama’s schedule. It’s just looking at the overall work of both teams.
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Alabama will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan.
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