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BATON ROUGE, La. — Alabama football has a significantly better shot at reaching the SEC Championship Game after Saturday’s 42-13 drubbing of LSU. The question is: Should it even want that shot?
And the sensible answer is heck no.
Under the old four-team format for the College Football Playoff, conference championship games were mostly a steppingstone toward a playoff berth. Georgia’s 2023 team would be a glaring exception − Alabama’s win over the Bulldogs in the SEC title game last year knocked UGA out of the playoff − but far more often than not, conference title games were ticket-punchers in the four-team format. When the CFP expanded to 12 teams, however, all conference championship games became less of a steppingstone to the playoff and more of a trap door.
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This much is clear: If Alabama wins out to finish 10-2 and doesn’t reach the SEC title game, its berth in the CFP should be secure. If it wins out at 10-2 and qualifies for the SECCG, its place in the CFP will be at grave risk, because the likelihood that Alabama or any other two-loss team could drop a conference title game for its third loss and still reach the playoff is slim at best.
None of that is to say that SEC championships aren’t a worthwhile pursuit. At Alabama, it’s the only goal that stands between national titles and disappointment. They’re important enough that each one is carved into granite along the Walk of Champions outside Bryant-Denny Stadium. They help recruiting, they lift the profile of any program, and players who win one get fitted for well-deserved rings.
Just not the brass ring.
If the ultimate goal is a national championship, any two-loss team…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/alabama-football-back-hunt-sec-063923932.html
Author : The Tuscaloosa News
Publish date : 2024-11-10 06:39:23
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