On3 CFB Playoff expert projects Alabama as an at-large Playoff team

Big Al and the Alabama cheerleaders lead the Crimson Tide onto the field before the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal game at the 86th Cotton Bowl in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas Friday, Dec. 31, 2021. Alabama defeated Cincinnati 27-6 to advance to the national championship game. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]

We are halfway through the 2024 college football season, and I still don’t think anyone in the country knows what to make of the Alabama Crimson Tide. In games against the Georgia Bulldogs and Wisconsin Badgers, the Crimson Tide have looked like far and away the best team in the country. But on the flip side, the Tide already dropped one game to Vanderbilt and were fortunate to get by South Carolina this past weekend and have looked the part of a fringe Top 25 team at times.

With three straight ranked games at Tennessee, vs. Missouri and at LSU, there will be no remaining questions if Alabama is worthy of a Playoff spot.  Even if they drop one of those games, it likely eliminates them from an SEC Championship appearance, but there will be several two-loss teams in this year’s Playoff field of 12.

The SEC picture should gain a little more clarity this weekend as Georgia travels down to Austin to take on No. 1 Texas. A loss for the Bulldogs would put them in a must-win game every week for the rest of the season.

As things currently stand, Andy Staples of On3 projects the Crimson Tide to make the playoffs as the No. 8 seed with an at-large bid. In this scenario, the Tide would square off against Georgia in the first round in Tuscaloosa with the winner moving on to face No. 1 seed Oregon.

While he does project Alabama as a Playoff team, Staples still thinks Alabama has much to clean up if they want to compete for a ring saying,

“The Crimson Tide almost lost to South Carolina on Saturday. That’s not an…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/on3-cfb-playoff-expert-projects-193011386.html

Author : Roll Tide Wire

Publish date : 2024-10-15 19:30:11

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.