Alabama Football: 3 takeaways from bounce-back win over Mississippi State

1. Path to the playoff is wide open for Alabama

Many teams cannot survive a loss and expect to make a run in the CFP. For Alabama, their reputation precedes them and as long as they have under two losses, they will be brought up for discussion. Whether this is fair or not is a conversation for another article.

The fact of the matter is that Alabama is the #5 team in the country according to the AP. Iowa’s loss today opens up a spot in the top 4 after one long week of being on the outside.

The AP poll is of course different than the CFP selection committee. But, it is tough to imagine a scenario in which both polls are aligned in saying Alabama is not one of the top four teams.

Bama has more chances to boost their resume with regular season games against Arkansas and Auburn on the schedule. More wins against top 25 opponents will keep the Crimson Tide on the playoff bubble.

Of course a potential matchup with Georgia in the SEC Championship will happen if both teams can take care of business for the rest of the way. This scenario sets up the SEC to have two teams in the playoff and will likely trigger major discussions about an upheaval of the current format.

For the Crimson Tide, their priority will be alluding that 2nd loss which has been known to eliminate teams from consideration.