CFP Committee sends strong message to Alabama after being dropped

The Alabama Crimson Tide were dropped to No. 13 in the nation following a loss to unranked Oklahoma on Saturday night.

The College Football Playoff committee released its latest edition of the rankings, which will determine the 12-team playoff field for this season. Alabama, now No. 13 in the rankings, is sitting just outside the field.

Because Alabama is ranked No. 13, it's easy for fans to begin bashing the Crimson Tide and talk about how they should be lower. Many fans believe that Alabama should be outside the top-15, and that's fair considering they have three losses. However, there's more to that No. 13 ranking than meets the eye, and the Crimson Tide might not have as straight of a path to the playoff as one might think.

Remember, it's not the top-12 ranked teams that get in.

The five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic-qualifying bids into the playoff. Then, the four highest-ranked conference champions get first-round byes. Then, there are a total of seven at-large bids.

Right now, here's the rundown of what the field is essentially set to look like if the playoff was held today:

First-Round Byes:

• 1) Oregon (projected Big Ten champion)
• 2) Texas (projected SEC champion)
• 3) Miami (projected ACC champion)
• 4) Boise State (projected Group of 5 champion)

First-Round Matchups:

• 12) Arizona State (Big 12 champion) at 5) Ohio State
• 11) Indiana at 6) Penn State
• 10) SMU at 7) Notre Dame
• 9) Tennessee at 8) Georgia

Keep in mind that this is subject to change depending on wins, losses, and other results. The conference champions are projections only.

As you can see, Alabama isn't the first team out. The Crimson Tide are actually the second team out behind Clemson, who is ranked No. 12 in the country.

What the playoff commitee has basically said with Alabama's ranking is that the Crimson Tide will not get in unless at least two teams above them lose, and we shouldn't expect that conference title game losses should be enough for them to vault ahead of someone either.

Alabama needs Clemson to lose this weekend, sure, but it doesn't stop there. Would the Tide actually be passed by South Carolina if that happened? Let's say, for instance, that South Carolina doesn't pass Alabama. The Crimson Tide would still need a team from the group ahead to lose to move into the field.

Here's a rundown of those games, excluding the one-loss teams in the top-5 that would likely stay ahead of the Crimson Tide even if they lost this weekend:

• Georgia Tech at (7) Georgia

• (16) South Carolina at (12) Clemson

• (8) Tennessee at Vanderbilt

• California at (9) SMU

• Purdue at (10) Indiana

• (6) Miami at Syracuse

The Tide essentially have to hope that Texas A&M doesn't factor into the equation with a win over Texas, and then they need at least a couple of the teams from this group of ranked teams ahead of them to lose.

So, the committee's message? You're out, unless other teams let you back in.

A win over Auburn isn't going to bolster the resume enough to vault Alabama back into the playoff conversation. The Crimson Tide will need some chaos and a lot of help along the way. They can still get it, but the chances are slim, as they should be.

Read More