Tennessee stunned Alabama. The 24-team playoff threatens everything that made it matter
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KNOXVILLE, TN – Alabama just buttoned up a spot to a 24-team playoff with a gnarly loss at Tennessee.
That’s what we’ll be saying a year from now.
Gross.
No. 14 Tennessee just stunningly upset the Tide, 26-10, at Neyland Stadium while playing with a late-arriving offense but a wrecking-crew defense.
Alabama fans started heading for the Neyland Stadium exits with five minutes left.
That’s no joke.
How the mighty have fallen.
With three minutes to go, the Vols were in the end zone for an insurance touchdown, the fans in orange started singing "Rocky Top," and the stadium began to literally shake.
A result like this should be seismic.
And, for one final season, results like this one are cataclysmic.
No. 7 Alabama is forced to feel the sting of a second loss in as many weeks.
This result matters greatly.
As it should.
Alabama in trouble for playoff after this loss to Vols
God bless the 12-team playoff. It never received the appreciation it deserved.
Enjoy consequential Third Saturday in October results such as this one. They’re unfortunately an endangered species.
This loss didn’t shove Alabama out of the bracket, but it pushed the Tide (5-2) to the brink of playoff elimination. With four SEC games remaining, that’s precarious footing.
A year from now, assuming the proposed 24-team bracket is rushed into place to satisfy the money grubbers, Alabama would be sitting fine with what would be spun as a competitive rivalry loss to solidify playoff standing for a multi-loss team.
That’s an argument for next year.
In the meantime, appreciate what this result means.
Suddenly, Tennessee somehow appears pointed in the direction of the playoff. Alabama is pointed toward trouble.
All that goodwill Kalen DeBoer built throughout the first half of the season? It’s gone. Tennessee’s defense just stuffed DeBoer’s approval rating in the shredder.
On two critical fourth-down plays, DeBoer kept the ball in the hands of an unreliable run game and counted on an infirm offensive line to generate a push. It got pushed backward both times. Alabama failed to convert either fourth down and it also had a false start in another pivotal 4th-and-1 situation before punting.
Tennessee with great defensive effort, Josh Heupel beats Alabama again
If Tennessee had mustered anything more than a flutter of a pulse on offense during the first half, this would’ve been a blowout. After one quarter, Alabama had two turnovers and only one first down, and the Tide could consider themselves fortunate to be trailing 9-0 instead of 24-0.
The Vols leaned on their defense again and again and again. Every member of that Tennessee defense earned each savory puff of the victory cigars that is tradition for this rivalry. Keelon Russell’s Heisman campaign crumbled in the face of a relentless Tennessee pass rush and stifling pass coverage.
Tennessee can make the playoff on the backs of its defense. We know this, because that’s how it made the playoff two years ago.
Josh Heupel looked like an offensive savant early in his Tennessee tenure, but the savviest move he’s made the past few years was hiring defensive coordinator Jim Knowles after last season. Knowles brought some goods with him from Penn State.
Get Heupel a humidor, folks. He does his best work in this rivalry. This marks his third win against Alabama. If that doesn't impress you, how quickly you've forgotten Tennessee's 15-year losing streak to the Tide.
If Heupel had paired a top-shelf transfer quarterback with this defense, he might have a national title contender on his hands. As it is, Tennessee fans will have to settle for a playoff contender.
Hey, it could be worse. Just ask Alabama.
The Tide looked like playoff shoo-ins just two weeks ago in a rout of Mississippi State, when Russell hard-launched his Heisman campaign.
But, this serves a reminder of how quickly a team can go from the penthouse to the playoff danger zone in the current format.
Ask me, and I say that’s a feature, not a bug.
This playoff format strikes a great balance of access and exclusivity.
The 24-team playoff will become a haven for 9-3 teams, and there’ll likely even be room for some four-loss teams that have the proper helmet magic.
Has Bama fallen far enough that the Tide are in jeopardy of missing the 12-team playoff.
For one final season, even bluebloods that suffer stunning losses cannot feel secure about their spot in the playoff.
That's how it should be.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tennessee stunned Alabama. The 24-team playoff threatens everything that made it matter
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