Why did the CFP committee put Notre Dame ahead of Alabama football after Oklahoma loss?
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The College Football Playoff conversation surrounding Alabama football has changed.
One week ago, the question was not about if Alabama would get a first-round bye, rather who the Crimson Tide would wait to face in the quarterfinal. One week later, the question is not about who the Crimson Tide could play in the CFP, but if it could get a spot at all.
In the latest CFP rankings, coming after Alabama lost to Oklahoma 23-21, the Crimson Tide came in at No. 10, dropping six spots from its No. 4 rating a week ago. Alabama is a spot behind No. 9 Notre Dame, another team with two losses.
Arkansas athletics director and CFP chair Hunter Yurachek said the committee “probably spent more time” comparing Alabama, Notre Dame and Oklahoma than any other.
Comparing Notre Dame to Alabama, Yurachek said Notre Dame’s two losses against teams within the top-13, and that Alabama’s loss to Florida State still looms.
“Florida State was up in that game 24-7,” Yurachek said. “They held Alabama to less than 100 yards rushing in that game. And that really was a sign of some of the struggles Alabama was going to have rushing the ball. You go back and look at Alabama’s game against South Carolina where they scored two touchdowns late to win that game. And then the next game against LSU where they won both of those, but they didn’t rush the ball for 100 yards. And then, again, against Oklahoma, was not able to move the ball on the ground.
“Those are two really good 8-2 teams,” he continued. “But I think you look at the losses of Notre Dame and the losses of Alabama and that was really one of the defining metrics that we used.”
With two games left in the regular season, Alabama has the upper hand on its own destiny.
An undefeated finish should keep the Crimson Tide in the CFP hunt. But an undefeated finish also puts Alabama in line for a potential SEC championship game appearance: another chance for the Crimson Tide to add another loss after falling to Florida State and Oklahoma in the regular season.
No team has made the CFP with three losses. Alabama, with a loss in the SEC championship game, would be in uncharted territory. But when it comes to judging potential three-loss teams that suffered that third loss in a conference championship game, Yurachek said the “data point of a conference championship game will be just like it is in the past.”
“It is another data point,” Yurachek told ESPN. “For most teams, a 13th data point that will be used to compare them to other teams in the ranking.”
Alabama will take on Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m. CT Saturday Nov. 22 on SEC Network+.
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: What CFP thinks of Alabama football after Oklahoma loss
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