National analysts and fans of the SEC spent nearly two weeks blasting the College Football Playoff committee just to be proven wrong.
Kirk Herbstreit went off on the College Football Playoff committee for selecting SMU and Indiana for the 12-team field, while remaining silent on Tennessee getting blow out by a wider margin than either of the two in the first-round of the playoff. Herbstreit was quoted saying that he "didn't care about wins."
Paul Finebaum and other ESPN talking heads have also been just as adamant that the Alabama Crimson Tide deserved to be in the playoff over those at-large bids that got in ahead of them. All of that talk, and then they were just completely proven wrong when an actual game was played on the field.
Though Alabama was a heavy favorite against a 7-5 Michigan team heading into the ReliaQuest Bowl, the Crimson Tide came out a loser, falling 19-13 to Michigan. Though some fans are discussing bowl opt-outs and transfers as the reason that Alabama lost, that's just totally inaccurate.
Michigan also lost 21 players to the portal and, yet, the Wolverines somehow managed to still play — with backups, mind you — against an Alabama offense that still had Jalen Milroe and Ryan Williams.
If you're going to blast the ACC for its poor showing in bowl games, then you can't ignore Alabama. And, if you're not going to ignore it, then you have to deal with the implications: The College Football Playoff committee did not get the field wrong.
ESPN analysts can say what they want to, but Alabama proved on the field that it didn't belong. As soon as the Crimson Tide lost their third game, they should've been eliminated from the playoff discussion and this talk about "strength of schedule" and "who you beat" is a moot point when you lose three times, including twice to mediocre teams.
You may not like it, but teams should be rewarded for winning games. There was never any indication that Alabama — or Ole Miss, for that matter — were better than SMU or Indiana. But, SMU and Indiana had something that neither of the two did: Less losses.
As for Alabama, Kalen DeBoer will attempt to rally the troops this offseason and get them prepared to compete again in 2025. There's no reason the Crimson Tide can't still be a top-tier contender in the SEC next season, but it's going to take some talent acquisitions and, perhaps, even a few staff changes to get the job done.