Bama Central

Could a Three-Loss Team Make the College Football Playoff? Just a Minute

With the 12-team field, will we see a three-loss team still have a shot at the CFP?

Katie Windham

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.
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. / Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's Katie Windham debates whether or not a three-loss team could make this year's College Football Playoff field.

In the 10 years of its existence, a two-loss team has never made the College Football Playoff. That will obviously change this year with the field expanded from four teams to 12. There are a plethora of multi-loss teams in heavy contention for the College Football Playoff field, including Alabama.

At No. 7 in the CFP committee's latest rankings, Alabama is actually the highest-rated team with multiple losses. But would the Crimso Tide still find a spot in this year's field with three losses?

If Alabama loses either of its final two regular season games at Oklahoma or Auburn, the Crimson Tide will be eliminated from CFP contention. But if Alabama wins out in the regular season and then loses the SEC championship game to either Texas or Texas A&M, the Crimson Tide could still get in the College Football Playoff.

The other possible scenario for a three-loss team would be one of the automatic qualifying spots for the champion of the ACC or Big 12. However, based on who is on top of the standings in both leagues, it is unlikely a team will finish with three losses and still be able to compete for their league's conference championship.

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Why One Alabama Assistant Has Been Losing Sleep this Week

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Katie Windham
KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports. 

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