Alabama football players still believe Crimson Tide deserves a spot in CFP
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ATLANTA — Alabama football’s postgame locker room after losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game was what Bray Hubbard expected it to be. It was a room filled with unhappy players, a group that wanted more from its first SEC championship appearance in the Kalen DeBoer era.
It was a locker room of players who saw the big picture: a 28-7 loss that put a chance at a College Football Playoff berth in jeopardy. But it was a locker room united — confident, even — that what the Crimson Tide had done was enough to make the postseason.
“We deserved a spot to be here today,” Hubbard said. “We didn’t have the outcome. We got them at their place earlier in the year, they got us here, so obviously we feel like we deserve a spot.”
To Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan III, it comes down to the Crimson Tide’s body of work: the top-25 victories, two of which came on the road; the SEC schedule Alabama had to navigate; the toughness Alabama has shown enough to show that the Crimson Tide “is supposed to be in the playoffs.”
Sitting at the podium after a 21-point loss to Georgia, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson felt the Crimson Tide’s resume still “speaks (for) itself.”
“We went through gauntlet of a schedule,” Simpson said. “SEC is the best conference in the country. That’s a really good team. That’s pretty much simple as that, right? We went through a tough schedule and we’re the most resilient team in the country. Everything, our resume, speaks for itself.”
Resiliency. It’s what Hubbard is holding onto. It’s been the calling card of the Crimson Tide, one that powered a surge after its Florida State loss, one that helped bring Alabama back after a loss to Oklahoma, the program’s first home loss since 2023.
None of these feelings are new for Hubbard. And Alabama, he said, knows how to respond.
It’s why he thinks the Crimson Tide should still be in the CFP.
“Some teams, if that happens to them, they crumble,” Hubbard said. “We don’t. We keep fighting.”
Alabama will find out its CFP fate at 11 a.m CT Sunday, Dec. 6 on ESPN.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama players still believe Crimson Tide deserves a spot in CFP
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